Skinned Knees
by The Forgotten Unforgetable
Summary: Kisuke Urahara/OC- Urahara was taking a lovely little stroll when he sees a dust cloud coming down a very steep hill. He watches Hanako Ayame rise, then fall at the sight of blood. Upon waking up, he realizes that her memory is completely shot.
1. Chapter 1

Skinned Knees  
Urahara Kisuke & Hanako Ayame

Hi, Megan here. I already posted this chapter, but it was due for a rewrite. Actually, the whole story is, but that will happen slowly!  
I don't own Bleach. Just a big fan.

* * *

Landing with a rather loud thud, Hanako Ayame's face hit the dirt. She tilted her chin painfully to look up at the gigantic hill she managed to fall down. "Ite," she moaned. "That kinda hurt."

"I'd imagine it would." A voice came from behind, startling her.

Slowly and excruciatingly, she rose to her feet and looked up to the person. "Ah, gomen for disturbing you." She bowed, feeling guilty that she felt so rough in front of him.

He waved it off. "It's fine. You did take a nasty fall though."

Wavering on her scrawny legs, she glanced up at the hill. Her eyes spread wide at the giant mound before her. Most people probably didn't fall down hills like that. "Yes. I'm most graceful, don't you think?"

He chuckled from underneath his green and white striped hat. "Come. I'll fix you up at my store. It's only a block or two away -think you can you make it that far?"

"Oh no, I'm fine! No need to trouble over me!" She exclaimed, waving her arms frantically in front of her. "I'm alright! I just got a little beaten up-"

"You're bleeding."

Ayame glanced down at her arms and legs, nausea immediately kicking in at the sight of red. "Whuuu? Blooo-"

The man stared at her fallen form, a little panicked. He glanced around to see if someone had seen this girl drop to the ground before him. It probably didn't look good. Regardless, he couldn't help but laugh. "I guess she has a weak stomach."

xxx

"Who's the kid?" Ichigo asked the red haired man in front of him, confused as to why there were always so many fallen people at Kisuke's market.

Renji shrugged. "I don't know. She looks like she got mugged though."

"Actually," Urahara started as he walked into the room. "She simply fell."

Both of their jaws dropped. "Where the hell did she fall from? A sky scraper?"

"Funny story actually. You know that huge hill down the street? Right over the park?"

Ichigo winced as he glanced at the sleeping girl. "Ouch. That had to hurt. Did someone push her or something?"

"Well, from what she said-"

_Yes.I'm most graceful aren't I?_

"-I'm pretty sure she just tripped."

"But there are guard rails! How do you fall down _that_when there are guardrails," the teenager yelled.

Renji was getting excited too because he actually had some input. Somewhat. "Yeah, I've been told those are supposed to stop you from falling." Ichigo shot him a look like it was a stupid question, but it went unnoticed.

"Calm down. I'm sure there's some explanation," The store manager said lazily. "We'll find out when she wakes up. Do either of you recognize her?"

Renji turned around to get a better look at the girl, only to find she wasn't there anymore. "Where'd she go?"

"What are you talking about," the blonde questioned as he went into the neighboring room. Ichigo watched quietly from the hall as the upper half of Urahara looked down. He looked a little confused when the man shook his head at the ground and called for a bandage from Tessai. Ichigo waltzed into the room where everyone was.

"What happened?"

The shop owner told his theory as he put two bandaids across the new gash on her forhead. "My guess is: she woke up, looked under her bandaids, was about to pass out but fell off the bed and knocked herself out instead."

"That's gonna hurt in the morning."

xxx

Ayame woke up to shooting pain, once again. "Ite... Headache." She looked at her bandaged hand and deemed it a _palm-ache._ Her wrapped knees were called _knee-cap-aches_. She looked over her body, naming all her injuries so forth, but when she came to a big banage on her wrist she couldn't say it hurt. "I wonder what's even under here," she mumbled to herself as she tried to pull up a bandage. A hand quickly stopped her.

"I don't reccomend that one; you don't do so hot with blood." The man from before asked her. Something about him raised no fear in her, which was a nice change.

"There's...blood?" Just the thought of it made her dizzy. She squinted her eyes and tried to focus, but found her attempts futile.

"Would you like me to get you some tea?" Urahara offered, lowering the woozy girl back down to her pillow.

"Oh, please don't trouble over me. I'm just a little-"

He smiled and headed for the door. Just before he left, he turned and added, "I'll try not to make it too hot for you." When he left, mild panic rose in her chest. She had no idea where she was, and frankly, she was too sore, too bloody, and too dizzy to move. She closed her eyes and wished it all away, hoping to find some happy place behind her eye lids, but found nothing fast enough; the man was back. "Here's your tea." The man came in with a tray with two cups of tea on it. He took a seat on the bed next to her knees. "I apologize, we haven't met properly. My name is Kisuke Urahara."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for not introducing myself before; especially since I'm in your home! I'm Hanko Ayame, sorry for intruding."

"Don't mention it. Are you feeling alright? How are your injuries feeling?"

She sipped her tea slowly, looking over her cup at him. "Why? Did something happen?"

* * *

Yes, super short, I know I know. I think the rest are longer.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, just another rewrite :) Again, very short. Too bad, there are other, longer chapters coming your way.

* * *

Previously:  
_"Don't mention it. Are you feeling alright? How are your injuries feeling?"_

_She sipped her tea slowly, looking over her cup at him. "Why? Did something happen?"_

* * *

Chapter Two:

Kisuke shook his head in suprise, hoping she hadn't really lost her memory. That always complicated things.

"You had a little accident."

Her violet eyes went wide as she stared at the shop owner. "Did I die? Because I'm comfy and this tea is amazing. And-"

"First, I'm glad you like the tea. And second, no. You aren't dead. May I ask you a few questions?" When she nodded, KIsuke took it was the go-ahead. "Do you live in Karakura?"

"Oh, I live..." she paused to think. "I reside at..." Her eyes went wide as she realized she had no idea. Not a clue. "I-I can't remember... Why can't I remember?"

Urahara thought for a moment, but came short with more conclusions. "You either lost your memory from falling down the hill or from falling off the bed-"

"Oh no! Whose bed am I in?" Ayame started to panic, frantically moving around on the sheets until his hand rested on her scrawny shoulder, stopping her immediately.

"Relax, it's a guest bed."

She sighed. "Oh, good! Wait...Sorry for intruding! I should go now!" She tried to scurry off the bed, but with her coordination -or lack there of- she quickly tipped off the side.

Acting fast and protectively, Urahara wrapped his arms around her waist and kept her from hitting the floor. "Maybe it'd be better if you stay still, enjoy your tea, and try to figure out who you are?" At that, she nodded her head. Even she realized that she didn't have all too many options and he was there to help her. "Okay, so you remember your name. That's a good start if I've ever seen one. Do you know how old you are?"

"No, I guess not..." She was getting sadder by the second and figured she must look incredibly dumb to him, but he didn't think so. He loved a good mystery.

"It's alright, don't get upset. We _do_know two things about you," he told her, instantly lifting her spirits. "Your name is Hanako Ayame and you're a high school student."

"How do you know that? Are you psychic," she asked with genuine amazment. "That's so cool!"

He couldn't help but chuckle, thinking her words were undoubtedly cute. "No, I'm not a psychic." She looked disappointed, but he continued on. "You were wearing a high school uniform."

"Were?"

"No worries, we had a friend of mine's sister change you. There was blo-" He stopped himself knowing well she gets sick from even hearing the word. "-something on it that would make you sick."

"No, it's alright. Tell me!"

"You don't want to know-"

"Yes I do! Please tell me!"

"You really-" When she gave him puppy eyes, no human -or shinigami- stood a chance, so he told her. "Blood."

"Bloo-"

_*thump*_

Urahara furrowed his brows, hoping she trusted from from that moment on. After all, how could she not? He picked the girl up and placed her gently back on the bed again, then left the room in search of his freeloader. When he found Renji, he was sleeping on the counter. "Oh, free loader. Get up!"

The red head mumbled then shot up, falling off the counter. "Shit. What?"

"Go find Ichigo. I think she may go to his school so I'm gonna need his help."

"Is there anything I can do?" Ururu asked sweetly from behind him.

"Yes actually. Could you please set up padding around the guest bed?"

She nodded. "Of course I will, but... why?"

"Because she has a thing for falling off it." After saying that, the girl nodded and went off in search of soft things. Meanwhile, Kisuke had half a mind to buy her a helmet.

About half an hour later, Ichigo strolled in. He was out of his body and suited as a shinigami for some reason. Maybe he was busy. "Urahara, what did you need?"

"This uniform," the blonde started, pulling it off a kitchen stool and showing it to him. "Is it from your school?"

"Yeah, but I've never seen her there."

"And the name Hanako Ayame doesn't ring any bells?"

"Nope. Not one."

"Alright, that's all I needed. Bye Strawberry head!"

"What? Hat-and-clogs! You can't just summon some one for two lousy questions!"

"Ahh." Kisuke pressed a fan to his mouth before snapping it open and using it like a high-class woman. "Sorry for the rudeness, you're welcome to tea! Hehehe! I'm going to the high school to figure out this kid.

xxx

So off he went to the high school."Excuse me Miss," he asked the woman sitting behind a desk in the main office. "Could you please tell me if a Hanako Ayame is enrolled in this school?"

The woman peered over her glasses at him, stopping the rapid typing she was doing. "I can't release information on students to anyone but family."

"Oh, you see, I'm her uncle. I just want to make sure my neice is making it to school alright."

The woman behind the desk smiled, not questioning his story at all. "Oh, then alright!" She mumbled to herself as she typed like a maniac on the key board. "Well, technically she was pulled out of school from the accident a couple years ago, but we haven't heard from her since."

"Accident... Could you tell me more about it?"

She looked uneasy. "Shouldn't you have known? Or been told?"

"You see, I just recently got married to her aunt. And then her aunt just died. So I'm taking interest in taking care of her family. I'm not completely filled in yet." He lied; so, so well.

"Oh, how tragic... Well, no one really knows what happened to Hanako-san. Some of the teachers in the staff lounge said that she always came in with cuts and bruises. Of course she always told them she had fallen, but one teacher decided to call home. Her father said she was just clumsy, but the next day came with more injuries. 'I'm just clumsy,' she would say. Even though she didn't have any friends and kept to herself for the most part, the day of the accident was scary for everyone. No one really knows what happened. She was found in her home with deep stab wounds and her father had gone missing. The authorities told us a robber came in, stabbed her, and kidnapped the father. But rumor was that it was a really weird crime scene because the wounds went right though her. Farther than a knife could."

"That's horrible."

"Definitely. I had almost fainted when I heard, but," she leaned forward over the desk and whispered, "you didn't hear any of this from me."

He winked and leaned back. "Got it."

"Please take care of her."

"I will," he promised as he walked out of the high school office. There were so many questions from the odd circumstances, and for some strange reason he felt obligated to figure the mystery out. He slugged into his shop. All this new information was far too interesting to not figure out. Next he decided to make her tea again, hoping to get more information out of her.

"Um," a small voice called from the bed in front of him as he carried her tea.

"Yes Hanako-san?" He answered, handing her the tea.

The girl took it gratefully. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"It's no problem. We'll figure you out soon."

"Thank you. So much. But... one more thing. Who was that orange haired boy who was here earlier?"

Urahara's eyes went wide under the shade of his hat. Before, Ichigo was in soul form.


	3. Chapter 3

This is even shorter than the last ones, but just bear with it. The shorties are almost done with. I think.

* * *

_Previously:_

_"Thank you. So much. But... one more thing. Who was that orange haired boy who was here earlier?"_

_Urahara's eyes went wide under the shade of his hat. Before, Ichigo was in soul form._

* * *

The look on Kisuke's face sent tremmors through Ayame, making her feel like she did something wrong. "H-have I said something?"

He shook his head, of course she hadn't. "No, you haven't, it's just- you said orange hair right?" She nodded. "About yay high?"

"Mhm."

"What was he saying?"

"Something about school clothes?"

"Alright." With that, all of his former theories went out the window and more creative ones were forced into his brain; ones involving his own world. Before he tested those theories, he'd have to fact check first. "Hanako-san, I have no desire to frighten you, but can I see your stomach?"

Ayame froze, not thinking of any reason why it would be a good idea. "W-why?" She thought about her scars and knew that was what he wanted to see, but what else did she have left?

"If you feel uncomfortable then-"

"No," she sighed, glancing around as if she were looking for witnesses. "I-I can do it." She wrapped her slender fingertips around the hem of a pale yellow tank top, provided by Ichigo's sister. Slowly her skin was shown and the blonde's eyes went wide. An inch above her belly button was an inch and a half long and a centimeter wide pink scar. Across her chest were two long red lines in the shape of an 'x', almost like a target.

Multiple short pink lines were all over her. Urahara put his hands on her bare hips and turned her around to see that most of the shorter ones had matching marks on her back. Whatever it was went right through, just like the woman at the school said. They were much too long to be from an ordinary knife. But then what could it have been.

"Do you...want to see the others?"

"Others?" She nodded and turned to face him, hazel eyes boring into his. She lifted her shirt over her head. Another smaller 'x' was right over her heart, along with other puncture wounds. "Do you know how you got these?"

"N-no, I just remember seeing them yesterday."

"Can you think really hard for me? Think of who did this to you."

Ayame squinted her eyes closed, trying her very hardest to remember. Tiny visions burst their way through her memory, but nothing but a vague color. "I don't remember anything. Just green."

"Green?"

"Just that."

"Anything about what hurt you?"

"I'm so sorry... but no."

The downtrodden look on her face struck through his heart. It was clear to him that she was upset about what happened to her, but couldn't remember. Who could blame her? Kisuke was so desperate to find out what happened to her, a random experiment was worth the shot. "Could I perform a test on you, so we could figure out what exactly cut you?"

"What kind of test?"

"All I'd need is a bood and skin sample from one of those scars -then I could test them to see what cut you."

To Ayame, it seemed too good to be true. "I thought you were a shop owner?"

Kisuke smiled and avoided eye-contact shyly. "I am, among other things."

He finally looked up at her when she placed a shakey hand on his forearm. "O-okay, Urahara-san. I trust you."

A few minutes later, after some prep work and sterilizing, Kisuke was ready to begin. Part of him was incredibly glad to back to experimenting, but another part of him wished it was under better circumstances. "Alright," he told her, laying her down on a plastic mat on the floor by her bed. "This is going to hurt a bit, but not for long. Please, please don't try to look at what I'm doing. Please." When she agreed and closed her eyes, he took a small blade and cut open a small part of her deepest and most severe scar. Naturally, her stomach tighted in pain, but she relaxed when he put his warm hand on her skin. Not that the comfort lasted long.

"Is that -down my stomach...blo-"

"And she's out." Urahara grabbed two test tubes and put a sample of blood and tissue from her scar in them. Next he went over to the dresser behind him and grabbed the two jars of a translucent, purple, jelly-like liquid. After putting on a pair of white gloves he carefully poured a small amount into each testing tube. He then swished the tubes around until they were well mixed. The liquid glowed a bright azure blue. It was just as he expected; she was hurt by a zanpakuto.

* * *

Again, sorry it's so short. I wanted to combine the first few short chapters, but then I'd have to go through and change all the chapter titles. I really don't have time for that, and it'd have to happen at once. Sorry!


	4. Chapter 4

Aha! Told you they would start getting longer! Again, this is a rewrite! :)

* * *

_Previously:_

_After putting on a pair of white gloves, Kisuke carefully poured a small amount into each testing tube. He then swished the tubes around until they were well mixed. The liquid glowed a bright azure blue. It was just as he expected; she was hurt by a zanpakuto._

* * *

Chapter 4

"So what's the verdict," said a certain feline friend, Yoruichi, as she walked into the room.

Kisuke had just set a patched up Ayame back on her bed and was cleaning up the rest of the room. "Well, it was a zanpakutou. I'm certain of that, but what I can't figure out is the who and why." He sighed, just because he knew this much didn't mean he had much else to go on. It was discouraging, to say the least.

Yoruichi saw this in her friend and patted his shoulder. "You said her father was supposedly the one behind it, right? So find out who he is. Why don't we see if any shinigami records pull up in his name?"

"I planned on it," Urahara said as he leaned against her, mentally tired. "The only problem is, I don't want to involve her in the shinigami world if I don't have to. You _know_the investigation squad will be all over this."

"True, true. So what are you going to do about her?"

"Well, I still know some people in the data unit that could help me. But I've got to figure out her father's name first."

"I have an idea!"

"Enlighten me."

Yoruichi disappeared for only a moment before coming back with a yellow book in her arms. "Phone book!"

Kisuke stared at the dark woman for a few moments in shock. "Are you kidding?"

"Well, I knew you were looking for her father's name... So I got some help figuring out his name for you."

The blonde's eyes lit up, "who?"

"Ichigo and Renji, after a few beatings of course."

"Okay, that's better. Those lazy asses don't usually do anthing. What did they find out?"

"Well, her father's name is Hanako Hayato, for one. And I did something even better for you. Want to check out where she lives?"

Excitement lit in his eyes -this was better than a holiday for him. "Thank you, Friend!" He was so excited he jumped over to her, hugged her, and kissed her cheek fast before darting out of the room. "Thank you!"

xxx

Her apartment was hard to get into, even though Urahara, Yoruichi, Ichigo, Rukia, and Renji were all in their shinigami forms. There seemed to have been a block against invaders, including those like them. Once they did manage to make it in, they spread out in search of clues.

"Maybe her father was aware of us and wanted to protect-" Ichigo was interupted by Rukia screaming from another room. Everyone fled into the room with quick speed. When they entered, their raven haired friend was kneeling on the floor with her back to them. "Rukia! What's wrong?" When she didn't answer Ichigo asked again,"Rukia?"

"She has a CHAPPY BUNNY!" The black haired girl jumped up in bliss holding a plush bunny. "Look! She has the yellow and purple limited edition Chappy!"

"Baka." Ichigo and Renji said at the same time while each hit her on the back of the head.

"Anyways. Look for anything _relevant_to this little problem." Urahara said before exiting the room and heading into a room that was oddly empty. There wasn't even any furniture. He thought it was odd, but his thoughts were interrupted when his eyes fell apon a wall that just looked too plain to be normal .After pulling out a few chemicals he had on hand, he made a mixture and put it in a small, travel sized squirt bottle. He started in the far upper right corner and began to cover the entire surface.

After about three minutes he turned the lights off and watched the wall get covered in splattered traces of a neon periwinkle. He stared at the wall and thought about Ayame, knowing that it just had to be her blood splattered everywhere. His vision dropped to the floor to notice the new carpeting, making him wonder why the entire apartment had hardwood floors except for that one room. Kisuke got on his hands and knees and started to pull up the grey carpet. Five minutes passed before he had the entire floor torn up, leaving only a very nice hardwood floor. It was so nice, it was a wonder why anyone would want to cover it.

Once again the blonde dug through his pockets and with an 'ahah' he found a little glowing blue ball about the size of a marble. After finding a way to connect himself to the ceiling he threw the ball to the center of the wooden floor. Instantly a red gas began to seep from the ball and spread all over the boards.

A few seconds later, Yoruichi walked and stood at the door way. "Now, I knew you would have some crazy idea, but this is a little extreme, even for you," she said as she looked up and Urahara, who was standing upside down effortlessly on the ceiling.

"I have the idea that there's something on the floor."

"So you're on the ceiling?"

"I can't touch the floor when the gas is down there, but it looks like it's settling down." The red gas soon turned into a fine perrywinkle powder that covered the entire area.

"What does this tell us again?" The cat-like woman asked as he joined her by the door way.

"Magnet... Magnet..." He mumbled as he dug through all of his pockets. When he found one, the blonde bent down into a crouch position and held the magnet by his feet. Immediately the powder on the floor raced over and stuck to the magnet leaving patterned streaks across the floor.

The purple powder had clung to the seemingly invisable markings. There were rings, three of them, and inside of each ring were a series of symbols known only to hollows. In the center of the rings were three kanji symbols. As the two looked across the floor and studied the pictures, things became more clear to Urahara.

"I've seen this before. Where?" Yoruichi inquired.

"This kanji symbol means 'chaos' and the other 'war'. The third one is-"

"Power.' That's it. And when they're put together, that means that someone is summoning something evil."

"More exactly, they were trying to pull out what's called a 'kaiheiki' or 'crossing gate'. That would explain the blood all over the place; they'd have to take it from her."

"So you're saying whoever did this had to pull out the 'kaiheiki' out of the girl?For what?"

"If I'm right, this guy's going to work with the hollows for something."

"So what would the crossing gate do?"

"I'd done some research when I was a captain on it. I learned that it would be catacalyismic. The hollows could all have free range of movement, or no more limitations, or all enhancements. As far as we know, they could come into the human world as often as they please. As for the Soul Society, they could get there too."

"What's our time frame?" Yoruichi asked, staring at the markings, suddenly concerned about where all this could lead.

"Well. This all happened a couple years ago, by the looks of it. It takes a year and a half human years for the Kaiheiki grow, so it's probably well developing."

"In her?"

"Well, in order to get the crossing gate you'd have to develop it inside some one then take it out physically. So I'm guessing she was the host. The ritual is clearly here, she has the injuries, but she should be dead. I don't get it."

"You're ri-"

Yoruichi was interupted by Renji running to her side. "The soul society got back to us. Her dad, Hanako Hayato, was on the development and science team long before you guys got there. He was-"

"Wait. Stop right there," Urahara stopped, realization coming into play. "Are you saying that he was-"

"Is."

"_Is_a shinigami?"

"Yeah, why?" Renji asked, not even curious.

"Never mind,go on."

"He was developing some thing called 'Kaiheiki' so that he could give the Hollows unlimited powers. Naturally they banned him and stripped him of his power. He hadn't been heard from since."

"Now what's going on?" Ichigo asked as he and Rukia also entered the room. Urahara quickly filled them in on all the details. Everyone just stood and thought. "So, assuming Hanako is behind all this, where can we find him?"

"We look everywhere. For now I'm going to try and get Ayame to remember something about what happened. And I'll try to see what her deal is regarding how much of spiritual stuff she can see. After all, she did see Ichigo in Soul reaper form."

"She what?"

"Yeah. Before I thought she was just a normal human, but I'm starting to think otherwise at this point."

"I have an idea!" Rukia exclaimed.

"Yes?"

"I think that we should bring back her chappy bunny!"

Rukia's sugestion sounded silly, but it gave Urahara an idea. "You're right, I should bring her here to see if she remembers anything. I can even give her a memory-boosting syrum to help her remember."

xxx

"Hanako-san?" Urahara called before entering her designated room. "I was wondering if you would possibly accompany me for a few errands? An old man like me-"

"O-of course!"

"Lets go, shall we?"

"We shall," Ayame said with a warm smile. Today she was sporting a red shirt with pale yellow short shorts. Her flip flops were red and so was the hair tie that held all of her perfect hair into a loose pony tail.

Urahara couldn't help but notice how cute she was looking and mentally thanked Ichigo's sister as they began walking down the street. That was also when he realized they had no idea just how old she was and that he should probably stop thinking like that.

"Hey, Urahara-san?"

"Please, call me Kisuke," the ex-shinigami interrupted with a grin across his face.

She was shocked. As bad as she felt, he must have saw something good in her if he was allowing her to address him by name. The thought alone sent sparks through her chest and it came out in a big smile. "Alright, Kisuke-kun! I have a question, bu-but you don't have to answer if you don't want to..." When she recieved a nod, she continued, "what color are your eyes?"

"Eh?" What an odd question.

"See," she blushed and began to play with her slender fingers. "It's just -I haven't seen you without your hat o-on so..."

"Oh, this? Here." After stopping and turning to face her, the blonde lifted his famous green and white hat.

The shadow that usually covered his eyes was gone in an instant and Ayame could finally see clearly. "I... I love your eyes," Ayame blurted before she could stop herself. Her slim hand whipped up to cover her mouth before she could embarrass herself any further.

His blue grey eyes stared into her large violet eyes as his lips pulled into a smile. For the first time the girl took a good look at the man who had been taking care of her for who knows how many days. She stifled a small giggle as she looked at his light hair the shape his hat left his locks in. Hat hair! But the look suited him oh so well. "Hanako-san?"

Ayame couldn't focus on what he was saying as she was busy gazing at his hands, shoulders, and chest. All of him made her dizzy. Her attention was mesmerized by the way his chest moved when he chuckled when she didn't answer. She just couldn't help but stare in awe at the figure in front of her. Never had she seen someone as handsome.

"Hanako-san," Urahara tried again, starting to get alarmed.

This time he got an answer. "Huh? I'm so sorry! I-I wasn't-"

"It's alright, Hanako-san." Urahara put a strong hand on her shoulder as he said this, and just the simple touch made her blush and become tongue-tied.

"K-Kisuke-kun, you can... You can call me Ay-ayame if you want."

"Thank you, Ayame-chan," the blonde answered with a smile. They kept walking for about ten minutes before he stopped and said, "oh, here we are!" As he ushered her over to an apartment complex, she smiled as she followed closely behind him. He kept his hat off.

"This is the apartment you were talking about?" She confirmed once they completed the maze of hallways and reached the door.

"Mhm, we're just going to go in and take a look. My friend might be interested in it." He lied as he meerly pushed open the door, he hoped she hadn't noticed that it had been unlocked. He held his arm out telling her to go first. Slowly and cautiously, she walked in and looked around, mentally exploring the whole environment.

"Why don't we explore this place a little?"

"S-sure," she said nervously as he linked arms with ger and traveled through the apartment. When they reached where he and the fellow shinigami thought her bedroom was, Ayame looked around. "For some reason this place is a bit familiar..."

"Familiar how?"

"Familiar as in... I feel like I've been here a hundred times before."

"Anything else about it?"

"Not really, it just feels kind of e-empty." She then blushed and looked down. "Silly me. Of course it's going to feel empty. It _is_empty."

"It's alright, next room," he said with a pep in his voice. It was then that he noticed how he's come to dislike it when she wasn't happy. That being said, he could tell this apartment was depressing her, but it had to be done. Next, he lead her to the room where he found the strange markings and blood. Sure enough, she locked up as soon as she reached the doorway. "What are you thinking?"

"I-it's just me being silly again-"

He moved in front of her and stared her in the eyes. "Ayame, you're not being silly; tell me everything that runs through your head. You can trust me."

"This room makes me nervous, liking I'm going to choke up and feel sick. H-has something bad happened here?"

"Such as?"

"Someone getting really hurt." She paused and sighed, "I'm going insane aren't I?"

"No, you're doing a great job. If anyone is crazy, it's me. Like, if this room had a story -say, one involving a mean father and a cute little daughter- what would that story be?" It was an awkward, too specific question, but it seemed to work.

She took another quick glance around the room, making her feel like it definitely had a story to it. "Someone..."

"Who?"

"Her dad, I think."

"What'd he look like?"

"Well, h-his hair was white and down to here," she said as she held her hand up to just below her collar bone. "A-and he's very tan..." She stopped and held her head with both hands. "This is hard, it gives me a really bad headache..."

Kisuke frowned and put his hand on her cheek to comfort her. "I'm sorry. I know this is difficult."

After seeing his sincere face, courage coursed through her viens and it felt good and chrisp. "His eyes were dark and really crazy. He wasn't tall; not tall at all actually -for a man that is. Maybe about my height." These thoughts flew through her brain from out of nowhere. She could tell the story as if it were her own, but it all seemed so distant and familiar, even though there was not a single reason for it. The information spewing out of her felt right and Kisuke seemed satisfied, so even though she was scared she knew she had to go on. "He was wearing -he was wearing a rust colored outfit and gold armor. And the others had goldish colored outfits with reddish armor-"

"They? There was more than one man?"

"Well, the man looked like he was the leader, but there were five or six other people dressed like him in opposite colors."

"Oh, okay. Go on please," Urahara said with a smile, though it was getting harder and harder to stay positive. The group seemed familiar, but he couldn't place anything about them.

"He had a long thin sword a small red sack, about the size of my fist. It had a sea foam colored powder in it."

"Do you remember what he was doing?"

"He was sprinkling it over the floor and chanting something, but I don't remember what. She should have died, but father tried very hard to keep her alive. I think that's all I remember though."

"It's alright, whatever you tell me is fine-" He stopped, realizing that her words started to change. She used the word _remember_. She didn't seem to notice, so he made the decision to keep her as far away from soul business as possible. "You can tell me anything," he told her, "this stuff or whatever else -anything. You can tell me all of it."

"T-thank you!" Ayame grinned to herself, thinking of how lucky she was to have a person like him around her. "I think that's it for that story though."

"Alright, thank you. I'm glad I got your opinion; I've learned a lot thanks to you. I think we can go now. Would you like to go to the pier for a while," the blonde suggested as he put his arm around her shoulders, which he realized were much shorter than his. When they reached the door way he removed his arm and opened the door. He stopped short and turned back around though, having one last thought. "Before we go-" Urahara stopped immediately when he saw his little friend frozen on the spot, midstep. It was very strange and very creepy, especially since it seemed like there was no life in her wide, amber eyes. As bad of an idea it was, he leaned in closer to her face to investigate. From her slightly opened lips, a quiet creaking and clicking sound came out. He shivered. Suddenly, her entire body flew right into the wall to the left and cumpled into a heap on the floor. Just when he took a step forward, a low growl emitted from her throat as her back arched and her fingers dug into the floor.

Urahara was clearly suprised, but he didn't show it on his stoic face except for his eyes getting wider just briefly. He had a feeling about what was going to happen, but there were always room for surprises. He'd show no fear though. "Hanako." He stated in a stern tone, having the feeling her father was behind this anomaly.

Suddenly, in quick, sharp movements, her body flipped backwards with her back bending further than humanly possible. Her body twisted and contorted so that she was facing Urahara in a fierce, animalistic stance -almost like she was ready to pounce.

"Hanako." He repeated.

Ayame's neck whipped up to face him, expression wild and dangerous. "You." A voice sneered that was Ayame's, but it was certainly _not_ her speaking. "I _know_ you've been trying to interfere with my plan. Quit _now._"

"What exactly_is_your plan?"

"By the time you figure it out, it'll be too late."

"And if I refuse to discontinue my investigation?"

Ayame's petite body whipped up so she was on her knees with the tips of her fingers at her neck. The tips of her fingers turned dark purple, like there was poison in them. "So naive. Do you even have to ask?"

"You're bluffing."

"Afraid not." Ayame's lips curved up into a twisted smile as the points of her fingers punctured her skin, the surrounding skin on her neck began to glow with her viens almost coming out.

"Don't you see the power that I have now? I'm unstopable!" The voice laughed a disturbing cackle before disappearing and letting Ayame regain control of her body.

She was out for just a few seconds before she looked up with her innocent violet eyes at him. "Kisuke-kun? What's the matter?"

"N-nothing. Everything's fine. Nothing to worry about." But he wasworried, so worried that one careless move could endanger this girl.

"O-okay?"

"Cheer up Ayame-chan," he said with false joy that went undetected. "Let's go get some ice cream."

xxx

"You r-really didn't have to get me ice cream, Kisuke-kun," Ayame said as he handed her an waffle cone filled with vanilla deliciousness.

"You helped me today, didn't you? You deserve it!" He smiled genuinely, glad to be away from that apartment. Naturally, the event was still fresh in his mind, but he was sure the immediately uncomfortableness was gone for at least a little while. "Now I want to see a smile!"

"A-alright alright," she smiled, but not because he asked her to. Rather, because of how great the company she kept was.

"There you go! See, you're a beautiful young woman so you should look like that more often! It's nice to see that little grin of your's; makes you look stunning."

This was the darkest blush Ayame had ever had. In a way, she was speechless, but she couldn't stop herself before she could say, "and you're a very handsome man, s-so you should wear your hat less. I mean- I didn't mean- Um-"

"Relax, Ayame-chan. Coming from you it's the highest honor-" Kisuke's comforting was cut short by his cell phone's unfortunate ringing. "I'm sorry, hold on. I'll only take a moment."

Ayame nodded and watched him walk away out of hearing distance.

"Moshi moshi!"

_"Urahara, it's Yoruichi."_

"Ah, Yoru-chan! What's up?"

_"Guess what I found?"_

"I don't know, you tell me."

_"I found that girl's file."_

"You did? Where the hell did you get that from?"

_"Well, I got it from the -uh- soul society, actually."_

"Huh? Why would they have it?"

_"I don't know yet, I haven't gone all the way through it yet, but I'll figure it out and let you know. Oh! But I did find out some piece of information I'm sure you're just dying to know: she's twennnnty, so feel free to work your magic!"_

"Yoruichi!"

_"Gotta go, bye!"_

Kisuke sighed and began to walk back to the table Ayame was at. He thought about what his feline friend had told him. While he was practically ageless, who knew if she was permanently aged or not. As Urahara approached the spot he left her, he noticed two men trying to talk their way with Ayame. One was wearing a grimy orange shirt with a white tank underneath, the other had a brown leather jacket with his nasty hair slicked back with some gross grease product.

"N-no, I-I'm fine right where I am-" the girl tried to say, but they persisted.

"Nah girly. You're not listenin' to what we're tryin' tah say! We just wanna have a lil' fun with yah!"

"Ye', why dontcha come with us."

"No, I-"

"Come on baby, come right this way," the greasy haired man said as he grabbed her small wrist and pulled her up from her seat.

"N-no! I'm here with some-someone-" she tried to argue, failing to sucessfully pull her wrist away from him.

Urahara felt a sudden heat course through his viens right before he stepped in front of his Ayame. "I assure you, this girl is _not_ your's for the taking. Now I _suggest_ you beat it, before I beat _you_."

The men looked up at Urahara's tall stature and decided that not even the two of them could take him on. For being so stupid, they made a wise choice. "Whatever man. Let's just go," one mumbled before storming off, the other close behind.

"Are you alright Ayame-chan," the ex-shinigami asked as he held her shoulders, inspecting the rest of her. The twenty year old nodded yes, but Urahara knew that she was _not_okay and quite shaken up. So to try to cheer her up, he came up with an idea he was sure she would like. "Would you please accompany me on the ferris wheel, then?"

Ayame tried to say yes, but her voice was wavering too bad to be coherent. He understood though, and led her toward the ride by her hand. Kisuke knew she was going to cry soon, so he quickly ushered her into the next carriage on the ride. The compartment was was a pretty mix of blue, grey, and violet. "Ayame, are you alright," he asked again once they were sitting down for a moment.

Ayame looked up, beginning to tear up and crystals of water fell from her eyes. "I'm-I'm sorry, K-Kisuke-kun! I-I've caused you trouble a-again-"

"Geeze, Ayame," the shop owner reasoned as he gathered her into a hug. "I was worried about you, so don't bother trying to apologize. That wasn't your fault. I'm just happy you weren't hurt, so please don't think that way."

She nodded, trying not to ask about the elephant in the room. That lasted a few minutes, however, it was bound to come out, so it did. "K-kisuke-kun... Why are you so nice to me?"

Kisuke knew this question was about to happen for the last couple minutes, so he carefully thought about what he was going to say. Though, he doubted either one of them could fully understand. "You're a mystery to me because you don't remember your past and so I hope we can create a better future for you, because you deserve it." He looked away from her gaze, feeling oddly shy now. "Not to mention... I really enjoy having you around."

She gasped and looked at him, wondering if he was being honest or not, but she soon got her answer.

"In fact," he continued, finally looking back up at her, "I'd love for you to continue to living at the shop with me..."

"W-what? I-I couldn't intrude! I-"

"Please? See, I'm already used to seeing you every morning, so don't make me break that habit!" Kisuke then gave her that winning smile that she just couldn't refuse.

When she nodded, Urahara let out a sigh of relief. "Kisuke-kun, are you sure though?"

"I'm _very_sure, I promise you."

"One condition?"

"Absolutely." He knew that no matter what, he wanted to be close to the girl. In the past days that she's stayed there, he'd grown accustom to waking up and making her tea. He found himself waking up five minutes earlier every day, just so he could make the tea and wait to give it to her when she woke up. And, in a weird sick and twisted way, he adored how she would come to him first when she got a bump or bruise. If she got hurt while he was gone, she would wait until he got home before telling anyone. Actually, if there was blood she would just pass out until he got back.

"You don't want to know what the condition is first?"

"Sure, shoot."

"You have to put me to work."

"To work? Why? I'm just enjoying your company."

"Please, Kisuke-kun..."

How could he say no to that? "Alright, then it's settled. I'll let you do work as long as you live with me. Good?"

"Greatt!" Ayame smiled as someone truly happy would. "Kisuke-kun, thank you. So, so much."

"For what?"

"For everything, really."

The blonde's eyes went wide as he was suddenly hugged by the girl.

XXX

"Okay, we all know why we're here, so let's get started shall we? I'll go first," the shop owner started at midnight. He couldn't risk accidentally dragging Ayame into the Shinigami world afterall. "When I took her to the appartment she said that her room was familiar in some way. Keep in mind I told her that I just wanted her opinion on the place for my friend. When we got to the room where the markings were, she didn't feel too comfortable. I asked her what story would be in this room if there was one, which was the trigger phrase for the memory substances. She told me about her father. We now have a physical description of him. And his army."

Everyone was suprised; it wasn't expected. "A-Army," Rukia stuttered out.

"Yes. She described them but I just cannot put my tongue on who they are," Urahara answered while staring at everyone at the table.

"Anyway," Yoruichi added, "we should take note on what he looks like -and his army- so we can keep an eye out."

"Her father is their leader, or at least a leader of a squad. I don't know how many people were there. He has been described as being as tall as Ayame herself. She said his hair is white and shoulder length. He was dressed in a maroon gi with gold armor. His army has similar outfits with opposite colors." Urahara waited a few minutes for the information to sink in before starting again. "She also said that he had a long skinny sword."

"So I guess he can use it pretty well," Ichigo murmured. "From what I've learned, ex-shinigami's only keep their sword unless they're pretty good with it."

"Yeah, I've kinda noticed that too," Renji added. "What's with that?"

Kisuke chuckled. "Anyway, she said he was holding a small sack filled with a teal powder that he dusted the floor with. I'm assuming that was an activating powder for the ritual. Also, he was chanting something about the gate: power, chaos, and war. So, we'll have to figure that out."

"Is that everything that happened today?" The feline like woman raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"No, actually. When we were about to leave the room she froze, made this empty clicking noise, dropped to the ground, and was possessed."

The people around the table all repeated at once, "possessed?"

"It was her father using her. He spoke to me saying that he knew what I was doing and that he's unstoppable. Apparently he has more power than he did before. He also threatened that if we don't stop, he'll make her kill herself. It was interesting though, he turned her fingertips purple then made her draw her own veins closer to the surface. I'm not entirely sure if that's something she can do herself, or if it's something he can just make her do."

"Weird."

"Well, as for the plan: Rukia, you find out what you can about that powder. Renji, see what you can find out about that gate. Yoruichi, try to get information about that army, there has to be something on them. And Ichigo, you're going to find out what kind of sword he's got. Also, everyone. I want to test out how much connection she has with the spiritual world. From now on show up as a shinigami only. That being said, I don't what her to know anything about what's going on, or what we are. Alright?"

"Hai!"

* * *

:)


	5. Chapter 5

Well, this is ridiculously short. Sorry. It's also a rewrite :)

* * *

_Previously: Rukia, Ichigo, Renji, Yoruichi, and Kisuke have a meeting to discuss what they've discovered and what they can do to help._

* * *

Chapter 5

Once they all left, leaving Yoruichi and Kisuke to themselves, Urahara spoke up first, dying to know. "So, Yoru-channn... what else was on her file?"

Said feline cat smiled knowingly and began circling him, bring up some anxiety in him. "Well, she's twenty. And our little mystery girl was a shinigami-"

"What? Impossible. No. Well, that would make sense wouldn't it?"

"Yes- what was that?" Yoruichi heard someone, but it was so quiet, no words could be made out. Urahara seemed to hear it too, so they both kept silent, listening and waiting for the sound to come back.

_"Lolipops...bum...ble...bee..."_

Kisuke smiled when he heard Ayame talk in her sleep, it was adorable. "Heh, cute kid-"

"Shh!" Yoruichi hissed, as the girl was still talking.

_"Kawaii. araharU...koi...Kisuke."_

The two sat in shock. Then, not a moment later, Urahara was paralyzed but glowing underneath. The cat however, couldn't help but start laughing histarically loud. Practically screaming. "Hahahaha!"

"Shh! You're gonna wake-"

_Thump._

Urahara rushed into the girl's bedroom and stared at her. Ayame was rolled up like an omelet in the sheets on the floor. "Ayame-chan?" No answer. "Ayameee?" Not knowing what exactly to do, he wrapped his arms around her slender body and lifted her back on the the bed. He didn't see the need to tuck her in. "Goodnight Ayame-chan." When Urahara came back, Yoruichi demanded to know why he was smiling. "She fell off the bed."

"Ah. So what-"

_Thump._

The woman watched as Urahara slowly tipped over, probably exhaused from lack of sleep. She knew he'd been working on keeping Ayame safe and trying to figure out the mystery at hand, not getting an ounce of sleep. It added up after a week. She decided to heave him over her shoulder and carry him to the nearest bed. Ayame's. She made sure that he was close to her before walking away with a graceful strut. "Good night Kisuke-kun, pleasant night."

xxx

Ayame woke up to the sweet smell of Urahara. Without opening her eyes, she smiled and took a deep whiff of it. For some reason, she always gravitated towards his scent and this morning was no different. She managed to maneuver closer to his smell and as soon as she got closer to the scent her eyes opened wide. Kisuke was sleeping right next to her! For a second, she was shocked and confused as to why he was there. Maybe a normal person would have pulled away, but Ayame felt oddly comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, she had a hard time staying awake and soon fell back into a deep sleep.

Urahara smelled a delicious mixture of vanilla and lilac, so naturally he moved closer, wrapping his arms around it. He was startled when whatever he was holding moved. His eyes opened to see Ayame's sleeping form curled up into him. How did he end up there? He thought about moving away, but after looking at her face a little more, he realized she was having the most peaceful sleep she'd had since she got there. Before, he noticed her eyes would race under their lids and she would move around a lot, but she was completely still now. How could he take that away from her? Something in his heart allowed his eye lids to close and drift off into a heavy slumber.

Another hour passed before the young girl woke up, this time she was fully rested. She felt warm all over, and she loved the heat, but she knew it wasn't coming from the blanket. After opening her eyes, she remembered Urahara was there. She smiled, pleased that he was completely at peace. As she carefully sat up, she giggled at his tousled blonde locks that were sprawled out all over the place. Eventually she made it out of the room after grabbing some clothes and changing in the closet.

"Oh, you're up," the orange-haired Ichigo Kurosaki said when he noticed her walking out. He was in soul form, just as Urahara had instructed. "Urahara still sleeping?"

"Yeah. He-he's really tired."

"Ah."

"Kurosaki-san, c-can I ask you a q-question," Ayame stuttered out nervously as she sat down at the low table.

"Sure," the teenage boy responded before sitting down across from her. "What's up?"

She nervously played with her hands and avoided eye contact. "I know t-that Kisuke-kun has b-been trying to find something out. A-and I know it has something to do w-with me, b-but..." She suddenly clenched her fists. "The more and more he fig-figures out the more nervous he gets. I...want to know why."

Ichigo raised his eye brows. " are...complicated, and he's trying to learn more about you so he can help you."

"Oh..."

"I'm thinking maybe you should talk with Urahara about your worries. He'll probably help you out the most."

"Ah, thank you, Kurosaki-san," she said with a bow before leaving. In the next room over, she found the backpack she had on the day Urahara rescued her. Luckily, she had a pen and notebook in it.

_Dear Kisuke-kun_,  
_You're fantastic!_  
_Love Ayame_

She drew a flower and a smiley face with a sun over head and trees in the background. Next she added birds and bees, and just for fun: two people.

Urahara woke up slowly, ears meeting only silence. Once again he smelled Ayame, but when he opened his eyes she wasn't lying there with him like last time. Remembering the previous night, he felt guilty, knowing full and well that sleeping with such a young girl was probably wrong. He sat up just as she walked in with a small tray of tea cups."Ayame-chan..."

"I-I've made you some tea. Probably n-not as good as how you make it, but I did my b-best," she told him cautiously as she stood at the door awkwardly.

"Thank you. Here, come sit and have it with me," Kisuke instructed, patting a spot on the bed next to him.

"H-hey Kisuke-kun," she began slowly once she took her seat next to him.

"Yes?"

"Thank you for everything."

"Ayame-chan, haven't you realized it yet?"

"Huh?"

"Silly girl, I can't help myself," Urahara finished while looking directly in her eyes. With a smile he lifted the tea cup to his lips -it smelled like vanilla. He closed his eyes and breathed in the smell, ravishing in it. When he finally took a sip and his eyes went wide.

"O-oh sorry! I knew it was bad! Here, I'll go-"

The blonde placed his hand on her's, stopping her from standing up. "No, it's delicious; better than I could ever make."

"Oh, no no. Y-you make the best, I'm sure of it!" Happily she bounced on the bed, pumped for the upcoming argument.

"No way, this has the most taste I've ever come apon!"

"Your's has a wonderful light pleasant feel!"

"Ah, but your's makes me smile, and that's the best." He even gestured to his grin to prove his point.

"So does your's Kisuke-kun! H-how about this? Your tea is the best for me and mine is the best for you?"

Urahara was beside himself, overjoyed to be with such a smart little girl. "That sounds perfect, Ayame-ko-" Even though he managed to stop himself very dark pink color flooded over Ayame's cheeks. "So sorry, Ayame-_chan_."

"Ah, it's okay, Urahara-kun!"

Urahara put a long finger under her chin, tilting her face so he could see her cute blush. "Silly girl-"

"Hat n Clogs! Quit being a pervert!" Ichigo yelled from the doorway. "Have you forgotten our deal already?"

Urahara sighed and remembered the deal he made with Ichigo:

_Ichigo was walking by Urahara's bed room when he heard moaning come from inside. Curiosity got the best of him, so he peeked in through the crack left open with the door. He saw the blonde tossing and turning in his sleep, moaning quietly, "Ayame...Mmm...Aishiteru... Ayame-koi..." However, Urahara woke up with a jolt, sitting up immediately only to see Ichigo steaming annoyance at the door._

_"Urahara, you talk in your sleep!"_

_The blonde's eyes opened wide in both shock and horror. "Oh really."_

_"Yeah, PERVERT."_

_"What? Hey!"_

_"Okay, since you're such a perverted old man, I want you to not try anything on a girl who has no memories, got it? That's just sick. At least wait until her next birthday."_

_"Or else?"_

_"I'll tell her myself that you've been having dreams like that about her."_

_"Deal."_

He shuttered at the memory.


	6. Chapter 6

Well, this is also a rewrite, but I suppose years from now my reedits will require more editing. Story of my life!

* * *

_Previously: "Okay, since you're such a perverted old man, I want you to not try anything on a girl who has no memories, got it? That's just sick. At least wait until her next birthday."_

_"Or else?"_

_"I'll tell her myself that you've been having dreams like that about her."_

_"Deal."_

* * *

CHAPTER 6

Urahara sighed, "no." He dropped his hand from her face and raised it defensively toward Ichigo. "I haven't. However tomorrow..."

"Perver-Ow," Ichigo stormed as Yoruichi smacked him in the back of the head with the back of her hand. "What was that for?"

"For being an idiot! Anyway. Urahara, you wanted to do that _thing_today, right?"

"Ah. Yeah, I forgot. I'll be up in just a second and we'll do it."

"Do what?" Ayame asked as she crossed her legs on the bed.

"We're going to go out for your- Rather, we'll be back in a few hours, okay Ayame?" Urahara replied with a suspicious smile; one that went right over her head.

"Y-yeah. I'll see you when you get back then," Ayame said shyly, still unknowing he was up to something. "Hey, is Ururu-chan around?"

Everyone shrugged. "Probably. Why?"

"I promised her I would help her sweep today!" She got up and started to walk, but her foot caught on the sheet sending her hurtling toward the floor, luckily though, Ichigo had fast enough reflexes and caught her easily. "Th-thank you Kurosaki-san! S-sorry for falling into you."

Ichigo blushed light pink when she looked up at him with her big round eyes and glowing face. "N-no problem!" Ichigo quickly set her back upright and stammered away clumsily.

"Huh? What-what did I do," she asked with obvious confusion etched across her face.

Urahara was a little surprised at first, but smirked as if he just figured something out. "Don't worry about it; it's probably just him growing into a man!"

xxx

About an hour and a half after Urahara had left and Ayame finished up with helping her friend sweep the floors, she decided that she should go out with Tessai and help him get some supplies for the shop. Which brought her where was at the moment: standing outside of a store waiting for Tessai to come out and get ready for the next store. Earlier she had mentioned what a beautiful day it was to him, so he said she should wait outside and enjoy the weather while he went in. So there she sat on a nice little wooden bench, watching the subtle changes in the trees and grass as warm breezes blew by. Suddenly a bush that sat adjacent to her shuffled and caught her attention. Slowly a small white bunny emerged from the dark leaves and sniffed around looking for danger. The sight captivated Ayame as the bunny didn't set sight on any cautions, but instead found her. Carefully the girl bent forward, putting her hand out to the bunny. "Come here, Aki-chan... Come here bunny, I wont hurt you," she cooed. To her surprise, the bunny came closer to her, right up to her hand. "Aw, there's a good Aki-chan... Huh? You're hungry? Hmm, let me check to see what I have." Digging through her backpack, she blindly searched for something for the white furball. Luckily she just so happened to have a carrot in her pack. How it got there, she wasn't sure, but she was sure glad that she did have it. Holding it out to the bunny, she was pleased to see it come closer to her and take the orange tip into its mouth. "Aww, good bunny!" Once the cute animal finished eating its carrot, it rubbed his head against her palm, making her giggle in delight. "Oh Aki-chan! You're so cute!" Then, anxiously the bunny started to hop away, and when Ayame didn't follow, he came back and let her run her skinny fingers through his snow-like fur. Ushering her to follow him with a pink tiny nose, he started to hop away again. "Oh! Y-you want me to follow you? Okay!" Totally forgetting about Tessai, Ayame followed it down the street.

The bunny lead her to a clearing in a place she didn't recognize. There was no one but her and the bunny here, and for that she was happy because she was the only person enjoying the rolling hills of the grassy clearing at the moment. The girl got so caught up in the scenery that she never noticed the bunny disappearing and leaving her all alone. As she was looking around a bright yellow tulip caught her attention. Bending over to pick up the flower, the girl began to think that it was strange that in this entire field, there was only one lone flower sticking out of the grass. "Tulip-chan, you're so pretty," Ayame sang happily, "I bet Urarhara-kun would enjoy seeing you!"

Just as she was about to pull the flower up from the ground, a low rumbling sounded from behind her, making her freeze. "Ha ha ha." The deep voice rumbled, but she didn't dare turn around for just its voice made her shake. "To think that I was the lucky one to find Master Hanako's true prey. Ha ha ha... Lucky, lucky me!"

Finally, Ayame turned her head to look. What she saw made her cower in fear with wide eyes that showed nothing but the most absolute fear. The beast was at least sixty feet tall with purple horns to match the stripes against its black skin that covered over strong muscles. His face was covered in a mask of bone with red eyes peeking out of the eye slots. "W-w-w-what are y-you! M-m-m-monster!"

Roaring, the beast picked her entire body up with just one giant hand that easily swooped her through the air. "I am the king of all hollows! Ha ha ha!"

"L-let-let me g-go!" Pitifully she pried at the hairy fingers of the monster in a desperate attempt to break herself free.

Annoyed at her dumb attempts, he threw her body to the ground with hope that all the bones in her body would shatter. Frustrated, he picked her up and threw her to the ground again.

jjijjijjijjijjijjijjijjijji

Urahara was busy searching for the perfect balloons to surprise his new friend with when Tessai came running up the street and into the shop he was in. "Oh good you came, you can help me choose! Purple or yell-What's the matter?"

"She-she! Well, I was just- And now she's gone-"

"Who's gone? Ayame?"

"She was waiting outside a shop while I went inside and when I came out she was gone! And I can't find her anywhere!"

"Oh no," was all Urahara got out before he switched into his soul body and ran. A loud roaring drew his attention, so he took off in that direction, hoping he wouldn't be too late. When he was close to, a flash of orange appeared next to him. "Ichigo, she's gotta be in that clearing up ahead."

"This hollow sounds huge!"

Urahara said nothing, staying silent to focus on getting to the scene faster. As he and the teenager got closer to the giant hollow, he finally caught sight of a person in the tight clutches of tall hollow. The monster lifted his arm and threw her to the ground. Urahara knew that the small heap on the ground was Ayame. The beast was just about throw a huge ball of bone at her and Kisuke knew he wouldn't be able to get there fast enough, even if he flash stepped. The ball hurtled toward her, but just as it was about to make contact, it bounced off like a ball. As Urahara got closer, he could tell she was knocked out, but he wasn't sure how she was unharmed. The ball of bone that had bounced was now coming back ot her on the rebound, but this time Urahara was close enough to be able to pull her out of the way. Ichigo worked on killing the beast, but it wasn't going down easily, so he moved her to the side and went to help Ichigo. Apparently it was set on killing her, so it managed to send another ball at her. However, once again it bounced off some invisable force and came hurtling back at her. Luckily Yoruichi was near enough and right on time to get her before the second rebound could hit her. He looked back to Ichigo and the hollow, which he then killed with one mighty swoop of his zanpakutou. Running over to Ayame, he saw she was still knocked out cold and covered in injuries.

"Guys! How is she?" A girly voice called from behind, turning out to be Orihime, coming to heal whoever got hurt. "Oh no! Ayame-chan!" So Orihime began to heal her while the rest tried to figure out what happened.

"What do you think happened?" Yoruichi asked the blonde, hoping for an answer.

"Well, considering she's not dead, we can guess that she got attacked and saw her own blood, thus knocking her out."

"How do you know that?"

"You saw her being tossed about before, Ichigo. Had she been awake she wouldn't have had a chance of surviving, since she's so small. When the body loses consciousness, the body is relaxed, which allows for more flexiblity in the span of damage control."

"I see. What about how she wasn't killed by that ball?"

Urahara sighed, he wasn't all too sure himself. "Well, I don't really know. I thought she was at least partially human, but she it seems she must have some sort of defense that she can use." Glancing over at Ayame, he decided to try a small scale test. The blonde picked up a rock about the size of his fist and toyed with it in his fingers before tossing the rock at the sleeping girl. Sure enough, and just as he expected, the rock bounced off and came back a second, the second time it hit her. "Just as I suspected. She creates a force that blocks an attack, giving her time to move, but whatever the attack is, it comes back a second time."

"Wow, that's pretty awesome," Ichigo noted. "Though I feel bad, this isn't a good birthday at all."

The feline-like woman nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah. This was probably her first birthday too."

"We should probably get her home. Orihime-san, is she alright to be moved?"

"Yep! She's good to go!"

"Good. Well... Someone go and take her home, put her to bed, and pad her room. I'll be back later."

"Where are you going?" Yoruichi asked, confused.

"I have some things to do. I think I can still save her birthday."

ctctctctctctc

At about 10:30 at night, Urahara sat up in bed, thoroughly stressed out. He was so confused with so many questions running through his mind.

_She was attacked by a hollow, does that mean she's got some sort of spiritual relation?  
What was with that defense of her's?  
How did she do it while unconscious?  
How do all these clues fit together?_

Tiredly, the blonde ran his fingers through his hair. Sitting in silence, he searched his mind for some sort of piece that he could have missed, but nothing came. Just as he was about to slam his fists on the bed in frustration, a small -almost unnoticable- sound made him forget all of his thoughts. From down the hall a small whimper was sounding, echoing all the way to Urahara's room. With concern he got out of bed and walked down the hall, following the faint whimpers and sobs all the way to Ayame's room. Peering in, what he saw broke his heart: she was curled up into a tight ball, weeping in her sleep. Urahara took the initiative to finally go over to the girl and held her in his strong arms. "Shhh... It's alright Ayame, I'll protect you." Small hands instantly latched on to the fabric of his top, pulling him closer to her so that she could shed her tears on his chest. "I've got you, don't worry..." Urahara started to notice that her breathing was becoming frantic, so he decided that it was time for him to wake her up. With care, he shook the small girl's shoulders, cooing softly. "Ayame. Ayame, please wake up..."

Sure enough, her sepia eyes opened, showing evident fear. "Oh Kisuke!" She started to weep, so the blonde pulled her closer, hoping she would be okay.

Stroking her chestnut hair, Urahara saw that she was slowing her breathing down. A good sign if he'd ever seen one. "Ayame, was it a bad dream," the blonde asked after she finally calmed down a bit. She nodded. "Was it about what happened?"

"Mhm," she whimpered, clutching his shirt in her hands even tighter. "W-what happened?"

This was a good time to figure out what happened, so Urahara took the opportunity. "I can't really answer that, but I can try to help figure it out. Can you tell me what you remember?"

"I-I'll try," she said, but her voice sounded a little unsure.

To make her more comfortable, he pulled her even closer -if it was even possible- so she could rest her head on his shoulder. She looked scared still, but he could tell that the way she was positioned -curled up in a ball so that her bent legs were the only dividers that kept their chests from being against eachother- made her feel safe, especially since they held eachother.

She began her story, starting with her brief cleaning, to going shopping, to meeting 'Aki-chan'. "It was such a cute bunny, and I had a carrot, so I gave it some."

"Then what?" Urahara hadn't noticed before, but at some point he had started to idly trace the lines of muscle on her legs. Little did he know, she _did_ notice, and she found it to be the most gentle of caresses. While she noticed _his_ touches, she wasn't aware of her _own_gentle touches. Naturally, as he listened avidly to her story, he felt her slender fingers draw little circles on the back of his other hand.

"T-the bunny wanted me to follow him, so I did, and he took me to this clearing. It was really pretty! Green grass, blue sky, yellow sun... I don't think I'd ever been there before though. And then I saw this really pretty flower. Just one though... I turned away from the bunny to look at it up close, and I thought of-" abruptly she stopped her story and looked down to hide her face, confusing Urahara for a moment. She wouldn't look up, even though he tried to pull her chin up. However, she finally looked up after he traced his finger up and down her neck and spoke her name quietly. What Urahara saw on her face made his chest swell with emotion; she was looking up at him with the most soulful eyes he had ever seen, but that wasn't the best part. Down her cheeks and just a little on the tip of her nose, was the cutest shade of magenta. "I...I-I thought of y-you... Because it was _really_beautiful a-and it was blooming, b-but t-there was a petal -just one- covering the fuzzy center. K-kind of like your hat and fan."

"What are you implying Ayame?" Urahara wondered with a curious smile.

Without realizing what she was doing, Ayame nuzzled her head on the sensitive skin of his neck. "I bet there's a lot more in side of here," she pointed to his chest, "then you let on. I bet there's a whole lot of Kisuke to discover."

"Whenever you want to look, let me know. I'll show you everything."

"I'll hold you... to it. S-stay... with... me?"

"Ayame?" Looking down, Kisuke saw the reason her voice trailed off; she was sleeping peacefully.

uyuyuyuyuyuyuy

Urahara wasn't sure when exactly he dozed off while holding his little mystery, but he figured it was early morning now, from the colors of the sky seeping through the blinds of Ayame's window. The light pink and gold light swam on the soft skin on her cheek, making her glow like nothing else. _How cute_... The blonde thought upon noticing how her brown hair was framing her face and creating a halo around her head on the pillow. Ah, but a small and curly piece of hair rested on top of her cheek, so he ever so gently brushed it out of the way.

"Kisuke." Yoruichi stood at the doorway, arms crossed, but she held a soft expression on her face. "Sorry, but could you please help me kill the free-loader?"

"Sure," he mumbled, reluctantly moving Ayame off of him and setting her back down gently. "Why are we killing the free-loader?"

"Guess what today is."

"I don't know, Tuesday."

"Her _birthday_."

"Her birthday was yesterday."

"No, that idiot messed up the day. I was doing some of my own research on top of his research and found out he's a moron._Today_is her birthday."

"Oh, well that's good. Her birthday wasn't destroyed after all."

"Yeah, that's good. Can I just go kill him now?"

"Go for it. I'm going back now."

"You okay? You look tired."

"I'm... fine. I just feel really comfortable around her -relaxed."

"Have fun, pervert."

Waving her off from behind, he walked down the hall back toward Ayame's room. "Whatever. Have fun."

"Oh, I will!"

Just as the blonde got comfortable with Ayame again, he vaguely heard, "you dumb ass free-loader," from down the hall.

rsrsrsrsrsrsrsrs

Ayame woke with a start, a start that would normally cause her to launch off the bed, but this time two hands kept her steady. "Good morning Urahara-san, what's going on," she asked, regarding the noise maker her woke her up with.

"Guess what today is!"

"Mmm...What?"

"Your birthday!" He laughed before blowing on the noise maker again.

She jolted up in response. "Huh?" This was big news after all, the fact that he knew her birthday meant he found out more information about her. "Really?"

"Yes!"

"Urahara-san?"

"'Kisuke,' remember?"

"Sorry, _Kisuke_-koi-" She gasped at her sudden use of such an intimate suffix. Urahara was quite surprised as well, but more pleased than embarrassed. "Um... s-so sorry," Ayame called out, trying her best to bow in her position. "I... I didn't-"

With disapointment clear across his face, he put a finger on her lips. "It's fine. Here." He handed her a purple tank top and denim shorts. "I've got plans for today!"

"Plans," she asked, looking at the clothes. They looked new.

He smiled a wanton smirk, hoping to add a little mystery to the talk. "Yes, lots of plans."

"Hey..." She laced and unlaced her fingers nervously. "D-do you think you could um..."

"Yes."

"Huh?"

Urahara grinned a goofy smile before saying, "anything. Whatever you ask, I'll do it. Today _is _your birthday afterall." Patting her shoulder and adjusting his hat he continued on, "so what is it you ask of me, my hime?"

With a heavy blush, Ayame turned away from him, as she found his light-hearted gaze penetrating. "This." With sudden courage, she reached up and held the brim of his green striped hat bewteen her thumb and finger. Urahara's eyes went wide as she tilted his hat up, revealing his lovely eyes. The girl moved forward so her face was just inches from his. Without his hat on she could see him with finer clarity. "There... That's good." With a gentle smile she stroked his blonde hair, playing and tugging lightly at the ends. Just one finger traced along her jaw, mirroring her finger on his.

"Ay-ayame-"

"Thank you, Kisuke."

"For?"

"For trusting me to take your hat off. Yoruichi-san told me... how you don't trust many."

"Well, that's true. I don't trust many, as after a while you learn not to. But I trust you. Do you trust me as well?"

She frowned and he almost took it as a no, but she suddenly jumped up and hugged him. "I don't know why, but I trusted you the moment I saw you! I... I-I trust you completely!"

Urahara was practically glowing now, overjoyed to have such a sweet girl around him. "I'm glad."

"Happy Birthday Ayame-san! Hope you're morning is going well," Yoruichi said from the doorway.

"Ah, Yoruichi-san! Arigato!"

"No problem." She turned to the blonde with a knowing smirk, "did you tell her?"

Urahara said nothing, raising questions in Ayame's head. "T-tell me what?"

"Nothing really," the blonde briefly answered before turning his attention back to his feline friend. "Is everything set up for later?"

"_Which _later," the orange-clad woman asked with suggestive eyebrows.

Urahara gave her a stern look, "the _only_later."

She sighed and waved him off. "Yes, yes. Everything is all set. Where are you going first?"

"Going?" Ayame wondered out loud. "Where are you going Kisuke?"

A pink tint formed on the girl's face when the blonde said, "actually, I thought that you and me would go see a movie today for your birthday."

"F-for my birthday?" Ayame lept into the air, engulfing the shop keeper in a hug. "Thank you Kisuke!" The said keeper said nothing in reply, only hugged her back. "B-but you really don't have to if you don't-"

This time Yoruichi argued with her. "You're part of this family now."

"But moreover, I want to," Urahara added.

"You deserve to have a good birthday, so sit back and enjoy. Kisuke doesn't do this for just anyone -just the people he likes." What she said made Urahara glare at her, but he couldn't deny that she was right. "So get dressed; it sounds like Urahara has a big day planned for you!"

"O-okay!"


	7. Chapter 7

Hi All, this is a re-edit. I took a few things out to make things run a little smoother. I think I wrote like an idiot when I first started it, but I'm working on cleaning it up :)

CHAPTER 7

After changing and checking to make sure she looked cute, she walked out of her room only to be greeted by Rukia.

"Happy Birthday, Ayame-san!" She screamed.

"K-Kuchiki-san!" The birthday girl stammered in surprise when she was attacked with a hug. She sighed in physical relief when Ichigo came in and pulled Rukia off.

"Happy Birthday Hanako-san," he greeted calmly as Rukia bounced up and down with a big violet box. "This is for you, from me and Rukia."

Ayame looked shocked. "Huh? Why?"

The male scratched the back of his neck, "oh yeah, I forgot. When it's your birthday, people give you presents."

"I've n-never had a bir-birthday before."

"Well, you're having one now, right? So here!" Rukia exclaimed encouragingly with her gift, "open it!"

"Y-you didn't have to-"

"Nonsense, open it! Please?"

"O-Okay." She started to peel off the clear tape that held the wrapping paper together neatly with a close precision. She wouldn't want to make anyone upset by ripping the pretty paper. Perhaps the pretty paper was part of the gift, in which case, slowly and carefully was once again the better choice.

"Ayame, just tear right through the paper!"

Still weary and careful, she pulled off the paper a little faster and opened the box. After removing the yellow tissue paper, she saw a purple and gold stuffed chappy bunny. Ayame let the box fall on to the floor as she held the doll in both hands; a salty tear gathering at the corner of her eye. Floods of memories and colors swished through her head like an ocean storm in the tropics, and just like that the waves made her stagger a bit until she could lean on the wall behind her.

"A-Ayame?"

She wasn't sure why she was so emotional, but she was. Who could possibly control a storm? Storms stop on their own, as did her's. When it finally settled, the wishy washy feeling still remained, but she was grateful for the bunny and they had to know. "G-gomen. It's just... for a second it reminded me of something. But I love it! It makes me really happy, t-thank you."

"What does it remind you of?" Ichigo asked with sudden seriousness.

"I-I'm not sure. Ah, gomen, f-forget that I said a-anything. But thank you both very much!"

"No problem, Hanako-chan. Well, we're going to go find Urahara now-"

"Ne, Kuchiki-san, I didn't know you had an outfit like Kurosaki-kun's." Ayame wondered out loud.

Rukia and Ichigo looked down and then back at each other. "Oh... H-haven't you heard? It… It's the latest fashion! Everyone is wearing them!" Rukia laughed loudly, nudging Ichigo with her elbow. "Right Ichigo?"

"Yeah...All the rage?" Ichigo looked around for Urahara, hoping he would magically come in and save their skins.

Luckily for him, the blonde shop keeper waltzed into the room, a smile appearing instantly. "Oh, you're all ready?"

Ayame lit up when he walked into the room as well and suddenly became stricken with nerves. "Y-yeah, I am."

"Oh, a chappy bunny?" The blonde asked kindly as he looked at the soft doll in her hands.

"Y-yes..."

Ichigo spoke up for her, "it's from me and Rukia, we won't be able to be here later so we wanted to give it to her now."

"Ah, right," remembering why they were leaving later tonight, Urahara just smiled. "Ayame-chan, let me finish getting ready, and we'll go!"

"S-sure. But you really don't have-"

"Ayame, please enjoy this day, okay? I really want to make it special for you! So don't worry! 'Kay?"

"S-sorry..."

"No apologizing either!"

"Sor-"

Lifting her chin, Urahara smiled, "you're doing it again. Just relax, things are okay."

"O-Okay!"

fhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhfhf

_How did this happen? _Urahara thought grimly as he, Ayame, Yoruichi, Rukia, Ichigo, Renji, Tessai, Ururu, and Jinta all filed in to one row at the movie theatre. Loudly.

_Flashbacky time!_

_"It's a date."_

_"It is not. It is just a friendly birthday meeting with two people."_

_"Bull crap!" Ichigo thought loudly as he leaned on the door frame of Urahara's room. "You look pretty nervous for a 'friendly meeting'!"_

_"It'll be her first time going to the movies, I really want her to have a nice time." Urahara stated, ignoring the suggestive tone in Ichigo's voice._

_"You're going to molest her!"_

_"I am not, we're just going to watch a movie. Her first movie."_

_"Her first date, too."_

_"It is not a date."_

_"It is."_

_"Is not."_

_"Is to."_

_"Is not."_

_"Is to."_

_"Is not."_

_"Is to."_

_"Is not."_

_"Is to."_

_"What!" Urahara yelled, finally too annoyed with Ichigo's ranting. "Do you want proof?"_

_"Shoot," Arrogent Ichigo argued, "prove_

_it's a date."_

_"Then come! Because it's not a date, I don't care if you come. The entire world could come and I wouldn't care."_

_"Fine, we'll bring the whole lot!"_

_Flashybacky is over!_

_Again. How did this happen? _Bitterly the blonde cringed as he thought back while standing alone at the concession stand.

_Flashbacker again!_

_"Urahara! Go get some popcorn for Ayame, she'd like that," Yoruichi whispered behind Ayame so she wouldn't hear._

_"Right," the blonde nodded and stood up. "Ayame, I'll be right back-"_

_"Hat 'n' clogs! Bring me back a large lime soda!"_  
_"Yeah! And bring me back those chewy things!"_  
_"Ooh! And some popcorn!"_  
_"Pockey!"_  
_"I want something salty!"_  
_"Nachos!"_  
_"Lemonade!"_  
_"Bring me a chocolate bar!"_  
_"Double stuffed mint oreos for me!"_

_End the flashback!_

uiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiuiui

Ayame waited patiently for her favorite blonde to come back and assume the seat left of her. Her feelings were less than joyous when the seat was filled suddenly. Expecting it to be Urahara, she turned and grinned, but the grin soon turned into a deep set frown when she saw that it wasn't. Panic grew inside her, what was she to do? He was far larger than her and she couldn't possibly have the courage.

Yoruichi looked to her left to see Ayame struggling to tell the person sitting in Kisuke's seat that the spot was taken. While her attempts were strong for her, they were deemed ineffective by the man's disgusting nature. "U-um s-sir...t-that seat is t-taken by my f-friend." The man ignored her pleas and continued eating his popcorn as if it were his only means of survival. The sloth would have nothing to do with anything she said or begged. "Pl-please..."

Noticing his behavior and blatant ignorance toward Ayame's pleas, Yoruichi's tolerance ran low. Just as she began to stand, Yoruichi spotted something ahead and thought better. She smiled. The most of her concern now was that Ayame would not see her backing away from the man. After a few tortuous minutes of watching Ayame's breakdown, Urahara returned with arms full of goodies. While she hated the face he made when he saw his seat was no longer vacant and the disappointment in his voice when he said, "_what the?_" she knew it was about to be worth it. "Drop the food and go sit somewhere _else_," she told him as everyone took their food and drinks from his hands. To lighten the tension, she winked at him, but he only rolled his eyes and left.

Ayame cast a sad look as she watched her friend walk by dismally and find a seat seven rows ahead. Turning to Yoruichi desperately, her hopeful eyes told all. "C...can I go sit with K-kisuke-kun?"

Yoruichi smirked, jutted her chin forward. "What do you think you should do, Ayame?"

Without a second glance, or care toward the rude stranger, she pushed into the isle with a stagger and purpose. Her feet carried her slowly, but the second she set eyes on his side, her blood ran faster.

"K-Kisuke-kun? May I sit with you?"

His eyes went wide with relief and suddenly the ruined trip to the movies was no longer disappointing. "Certainly." Just as she made her way to sit down, her foot caught on the back of the seat in front, causing her to stumble forward. But Urahara reached his hand out to her's and steadied her. "Woah, careful there!"

"S-s-… I'm lucky you were th-there. Thank you."

Hoping to relieve her embarrassment, Urahara patted the back of her and guided her into her seat. "I'm always going to be there, Ayame-chan. But for the seconds I'm away, I should get a helmet for you, huh?"

As he had hoped, a smile crept onto her lips. "N-no," she chided, but the words were caught between giggles.

"And gloves and knee pads too?"

"No!"

"Or maybe I should just go all out and get you a plastic bubble?"

"O-oh Kisuke-kun! S-stop it!" She had never been so happy before, but perhaps that was because she had never been with anyone like this before. Whilst laughing Ayame barely noticed everyone around her blurring, every sound other than their laughs fading to silence, and the entire world melting around her. It was as if time stopped around them, leaving her and Urahara to enjoy the moment alone. Ayame was okay with that. Into Kisuke's eyes she stared, finding every answer to every question she didn't know she had. Vaguely she felt herself still laughing, making her come back to present time. After finally tearing her eyes from Kisuke to the screen, she realized no time had passed. The hours spent staring into his eyes wasn't more than a second, as the screen showed the same boy, picking up the same can, in the same place.

Before she could catch up, Kisuke hadn't missed a beat and was already talking. "Aw, why would I stop when you've got such a cute laugh!"

"C-cute?!" Flustered, Ayame stuttered out in disbelief.

"Extremely adorable," Urahara charmed.

"N-no way..."

Flashing her a goofy grin, he argued playfully, "yes way!" The theater then got darker and the noise around them subsided, which Ayame was grateful for, considering it hid the rose tinting her cheeks.

thththththththththt

Half way through the movie, a question came to Ayame's mind, one that she wanted to ask him before but forgot to. "Kisuke-kun..." she whispered softly and sweetly. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, ask away," Urahara whispered back, resting the side of his head on the back of the chair, giving her his full attention.

Ayame mirrored him, resting her head and looking at him. "Why is Uzakara doing all those things for Kayumi? It's just a burden on him..."

"Well, he's doing those things because he loves her."

"C-can I ask you another question?"

"Of course you can," he whispered back, grateful for the light scene in the film that lit up her face. "What's on your mind?"

"Well, y-you do so much for me... and you're so nice... but you..."

"I what?"

"You... tire yourself out and I know you're working _really_hard. You're working too hard..."

"For you, Ayame."

"But... You don't have to!" Ayame said, her voice a tad bit higher. "I don't want you to over work yourself f-for my sake!"

Urahara frowned and squeezed the hand that he never did let go of. "Ayame-chan... I do these things... for _so_many reasons... I like you; I think you're something rather spectacular. And your unyielding kindness is something to admire. Ayame... I'm fascinated by you, and I want to learn more and more about you... If you don't mind, that is."

"O-of course n-not!" Ayame blushed. "But... Kisuke-kun... Could I ask one more thing of you?"

"Anything."

Ayame looked away to hide her face, which was growing pinker by the second. "I-I think my other h-hand is c-cold..."

Urahara pulled his lips up into the biggest smile he was sure he'd ever had. "I think I can fix that." And indeed he did.

cfcfcfcfcfcfcfcfcfcfc

When the movie was over Urahara and Ayame waited for the theater to clear out a little bit. "What did you think of the movie Ay- Are you crying?"

Ayame shook her head and looked away. "N-no, I'm n-not..."

Normally Urahara would just pull her face so that she was looking at him, but his hands were still occupied by her's. "What's the matter? Did you not like the movie?"

"N-no, it-it was really good!"

"Then why are you crying, Ayame-chan?"

"It-it was just r-really sweet! Th-these are h-happy tears!"

" 'Happy tears'? Alright," Urahara remarked slowly, a little confused. While _most_ females confused him, this one was just a _little_more confusing than most. But that was alright with him. Letting go of one of her hands, Urahara wiped away her tears and smiled, "you know, it's just as easy to smile at happy things!"

"Heheh, probably Kisuke-kun," Ayame sniffled a little, now that her tears had stopped.

Looking around, the shop keeper noticed that they were the only ones left in the theater. "We should probably get out of here, we still have the rest of your birthday for you, remember?"

"R-right!"

"Come on then," Urahara helped her up and led her out of the theater by her hand, passing a boy with a broom and a trash can. "They're probably outside waiting for us."

hjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjhjh

Sure enough, when Urahara and Ayame walked outside, the rest of the gang was hanging around outside waiting for them. "Geeze! Where were you guys? We've been waiting out here for like five-freakin'-minutes! You're _holding_ her _hand_?" Ichigo yelled, annoyed at _way_too many things at once.

Ayame looked up at Urahara, slightly scared, "is t-that w-wrong?"

Yoruichi slapped Ichigo in the back of the head, sending him flying to the concrete sidewalk. "No, not at all Ayame, Ichigo is just a _dead_idiot."

"Oh..."

Ichigo growled at Yoruichi as he got up and dusted himself off, then he turned to Urahara, "Shop-keeper! I need to talk to you!"

"Whatever for?" The said shop keeper asked, a bit annoyed at how much of an ass Ichigo was acting like. "It better be important."

Pulling him off to the side so no one else could hear, Ichigo let out a frustrated sigh. "Look, I'm going to be frank with you. Whenever you act all cute with Hanako-san when you're not even dating, Rukia gets mad that _I_ don't do that with her, and we _are_dating!"

"So... Do that with Rukia? Smarts-kun."

"Look! Just don't do that with Hanako-san! Plus! She's young and you're like four hundred years old!"

"And?"

"Hat 'n' Clogs!"

"Get over it, Kurosaki-kun. Because the _sexy ladies love_ _me_!" Urahara then struck a dramatic pose and began to rant on and on how women love him.

"You're terrible." Ichigo walked away from him and back to where everyone else was waiting for them.

Meanwhile...

"So, Ayame, what did you think of the movie?" Yoruichi leaned against the brick building behind her, filing her nails and pretending not to have an ulterior motive. "It was your first movie experience, right?"

"It was, and-and it was really fun!"

"Just fun?"

Ayame grinned, almost like she had a secret. "Ne, Yoruichi-san, why does Kisuke-kun have such warm hands?"

Yoruichi held a devilish smirk on her dark lips, "well, it's because his heart was beating _extra_fast today!"

Ayame's face turned concerned in record time; she couldn't hide the panic in her voice. "W-why?"

" 'Why'? Well, you should ask him when he comes back."

When Urahara came back, Ayame came dancing happily over to him, but a rock appeared out of nowhere and tripped the poor girl. Strait to the ground she fell, failing to balance herself, she earned some nasty scraped hands and skinned knees. "Shit! Ayame! Are you alright?" Urahara ran over to her as fast as he could -probably too fast for public- and flipped her over so she was on her butt. "Listen to me. I want you to look only at me. You don't need to look anywhere else, okay?"

Feebly, Ayame gulped and tried not to cry, "o-ok-kay."

When Urahara was sure that she would keep her eyes on his face, and not on where he was looking, he took a look at the damage. Her hands were all cut up and dirty while he knees were skinned and bloody. She had just healed up from her other accident. To avoid her seeing her own blood, he picked her up in a bridal fashion and told her, "let's get you home."

"B-but I'm heavy!" She protested weakly.

Everyone started giggling, knowing full and well that a scrawny light-weight like her would be no match for the strong, muscular ex-captain. "Ayame, really, it's like carrying a big ball of flower petals." Just as she was about to look down again, Kisuke repeated, "Ayame, just look at me, okay?"

"T-that won't be too h-hard, huh?" she finally agreed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Ayame looked at the ceiling, forcing herself to stop looking at what Urahara was working on. She was in good hands; her ripped palms and skinned knees were no match for his experienced hands. She was sitting on the kitchen counter with him right in front of her, patching her all up. Feeling him wrap up her hands was strangely comforting. "Kisuke-kun? C-can I play with your hair?" She asked when he kneeled down so that he could fix up her knees.

Kisuke stopped and looked up at her, brow quirked. "Uhm, yeah, you can do that." A quiet, gentle sigh escaped his lips as soon as her fingers started swimming through his hair. Her fingers in his hat-hair had to be the best thing since... ever! Her fingers worked like magic! They played, teased, pulled, twisted, swam, stroked! Everything! "Ayame, I'm telling you in all honesty-"

"Huh," she asked as he stood up and brought his face very close to her's.

"Your hands... Feel wonderful!" Urahara chirped like a hyper monkey.

The girl just laughed at him, pulling him into a hug between her legs. "Silly goose! My hands are your hands! At your service!"

Ichigo heard this little exchange as he walked past the kitchen door way. He didn't _see_ them, but he knew that they _must_ be doing something dirty! "Perverts," he whispered to himself, not wanting to risk being caught and called a voyeur.

"You're one to talk. Voyeur."

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"Okay, now Ayame, you can't take off your blindfold until I say, okay?" Yoruichi instructed her as she led her over to Urahara, who was being as quiet as possible. Before Ayame could argue, he picked her up and carried her over to the trap door that lead to the 'basement.' When she was instructed to hold on tightly –not that he would ever drop her, but safety first- she wrapped her arms and legs around his waist and neck. "Careful, take her down nice and easy." He scoffed at Yoruichi, for obvious reasons.

"Ne, whoever is carrying me," Ayame twittled her fingers in his hair, she _knew_ it was Kisuke holding her, but she didn't have the heart to tell him and ruin his fun. "Have you seen Urahara around? I haven't seen him for a while. But c-could you give this to him next time you see him?" She pulled on his shirt and stuck a small folded note in between the sides of his shirt, right where one side folds over the other. "There, now please be sure to give this to him, okay?" To add a little extra touch, she patted on his chest right where the note was.

After only a minute or so, Ayame was set to stand on her own feet. "Alright," she heard Yoruichi say from behind her. "Count to five, then you can take it off."

"Okay!" Right as soon as she said that, she tore off the blindfold and squealed in delight. In front of her stood all of her new friends, except for Ichigo and Rukia, but she knew they were off _bonding_. That's what Rukia had told her at least.

"Happy Birthday!" They all chorused together. Each of them ran up to her, hugging her, even Renji, who awkwardly gave her a side hug.

"W-wow! Th-thank you everyone! I'm... I'm so happy!" The birthday girl cried with immense joy. "This is... I've never exp-perienced something so wonderful like this before!"

Urahara was the first _and_ the last person to hug her; he fully enjoyed both hugs. "Ayame-chan, is everything looking like a birthday?"

While still in his embrace, Ayame shrugged, "I d-don't know what it's supposed to look like! But I know this is the best day of my life!"

"I'm _so_ glad." Compared to Ayame, Urahara was a giant; proving true as he hugged her with a bent back. Even though he had to bend over every time to hug her, Kisuke loved it, especially when he could smell the faint scent of vanilla and lavender on the nape of her neck. "You smell really good, Ayame."

"Kisuke-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Why-why'd you say t-that?"

"Because you do!"

"B-but..." She stopped mid-thought and buried her face in his.

Kisuke _loved_ how cute and shy she got when she was about to admit something. " 'But'...?"

While still clutching his shirt, Hanako shook her head and mumbled with a muffled voice from his shirt. "Buff aish vanched tooch saych thaft aboufgh chu hurst!" [But I wanted to say that about you first!]

Of course Kisuke understood her perfectly clear. He thanked her and patted her back lightly, "hey, are you ready for the first activity?" He whispered in her ear.

"Activity?"

"Yep," the shop keeper reluctantly released her from the hug, "and I think you'll like it!"

"T-Thanks! I bet I will!... You'll do it with me, right?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way! And no more 'thank yous', alright? It's your birthday!" Placing both hands on her shoulders, Kisuke smiled bright.

Nodding, the girl spoke softly, "sorry-"

"And no apologizing either, okay? We want today to be as special as possible for you, 'kay?"

"Thanks for-"

"You're doing it again Ayame-chan..."

"Sor-" This time the girl was stopped when Yoruichi reached around from behind her and popped a jumbo-sized marshmallow in her mouth. "Mmph!"

"Kid, stop saying sorry and chew, then we'll get this party started!" Rather hard [though she wasn't intending on it being hard at all] Yoruichi patted her shoulder, but it caught the weak girl off guard and sent her to the dusty ground.

While shaking her head, Ayame waited for the tan dust to settle as she felt an arm wrap around her waist. The arm pulled her up; of course it belonged to the hat-haired blonde. When he set her down on her feet, he lifted her chin so that she didn't even have a _chance_ of seeing blood. "Eyes on me, alright?" Ayame couldn't answer, because even though she wasn't crying, it still hurt. Gently Urahara held her wrists in each hand and raised them up just enough so that he [and not her] could inspect her scraped elbows. "Yoruichi, could-"

"We figured she might get hurt, so we made a kit." The feline-like woman said as she passed over a small white box.

Laughing lightly, Kisuke took the box and began to work on repairing Ayame. "Good call- Ayame-chan?!" He asked and stopped working, concerned when he noticed she was starting to cry. "Are you alright? What's the matter!"

Sniffling, Ayame did cute little movements with her nose in a pitiful attempt to stop crying. "I-I-I'm S-sorry!" Heavily Ayame sobbed and looked away from Kisuke.

"Whatever are you sorry for?"

"Y-you... I-I keep-keep on g-get-tting hurt! And-And-And you have to k-keep on fixing me! I'm s-s-s-so sorr-rry!"

Placing both hands on either side of her face, Urahara wiped her tears with his thumbs as he cooed softly. "No no no, Ayame, it's not your fault. And I don't mind fixing you up."

Ayame's face was turning pink from crying. "Bu-but you-"

"Ayame. I care about you, so when you get hurt, I want to always be the one to make you feel better. Do you understand? You're very special and I like taking care of you, so please let me?"

"O...okay...Kisuke-kun..."

Hugging her, Urahara sighed, hoping someday she would realize just _how_ much she really starting to mean to him.

"Good girl. Really, I-"

This time Renji interrupted Urahara by yelling, "Old man! Are we going to play hide 'n' seek yet?!"


	9. Chapter 9

This is a re-edit! Appologies, this chapter is really corny and very unrealistic, but I couldn't justify taking it out. Hope it suffices!

Chapter 9

Fluttering around, the young Hanako searched desperately for a hiding spot, and that was harder than it seemed in the desert-like basement. Just when she was about to give up hope, a soft voice caught her attention. "Psst! Ayame-chaaaaan!" The said girl looked around the dusty area and saw nothing, but the voice reoccurred. "Over here Ayame!" Turning around, Ayame finally found the source of the voice: her favorite blonde. He was popping his head out from behind a bolder with a goofy grin plastered on his face. "You can come hide with me!"

"Kisuke-kun! Arigato!" Skipping over to his large rock, she plopped down next to him and leaned her back against his shoulder. "Ne, Kisuke-kun..."

Because she was sitting perpendicular to how he was sitting, it was easier for him to sneak a neat little barrier trick without her noticing. "Hai?"

"What do we do now?"

Urahara smiled at how little she knew about this game that most every child knew. He decided it was something learned better late than never. "Well, since we're not it, we just wait here until the person who's it finds us."

"Oh! Okay!"

In comfortable silence they sat; neither of them feeling the need to fill it. Reaching up and behind her, Ayame brought her finger tips to the ends of his blonde hair and let the strands tickle on her skin. It was amazing how simply feeling the soft texture of his hair made her want to just get on top of him and stroke his head with her cheek. Quickly realizing that the foreign thoughts she was having seemed lewd, she reeled her hand back and leaned away from him. Unfortunately she leaned too far forward and began to fall, but Urahara had fast enough reflexes and held her back by the back of her shorts. His fingers had reached down two or three inches under the hemline of her little jean shorts, and they remained there until he was sure that she wasn't at risk of falling any more. He was pretty sure that she was the first person he had ever heard of that could actually be capable of hurting themself even when sitting on the floor. Kisuke took both of her shoulders and turned her around so she was on her knees facing him. "Ayame... Have you ever felt anything..." he pointed to her chest, right over her heart. "...right here?" He was being bold -he knew he was- but he had to know.

"Felt?"

Urahara frowned; perhaps he was the only one feeling the pulsing in the heart. "Yeah, like... never mind, it's not important."

"Huh? Okay..."

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After a few hours of looking, Yoruichi and the rest of the party goers were ready to just give up on looking for Urahara and the birthday girl. "Damn it! Where are they," she yelled as she slammed her palm on the little table they had set up. "Renji! Did you check the _entire_north side?"

The red-head put his hands up, "I did! Behind every rock!"

"Ururu, you and Jinta check all of the west side, right?"

"Hai," the girl replied quietly.

"Tessai?"

"Everywhere."

"Damn it! He must be using a force field!" Yoruichi realized with pursed lips.

"For hide 'n' seek?" Renji asked.

"Idiot. This was never just hide 'n' seek, what do you think we are? Human?" The feline-like woman sighed; she was beginning to think there was no hope for Renji. "From the beginning this seemed like the simple game, and for Ayame it was, but for us we were going to have a bit more fun. We all used bindings, invisibility, flash stepping; anything. _You_ were just an idiot and didn't think to. Ururu hid behind a fake rock that set an illusion of not being there. Jinta turned into dust and layed low. Tessai knew all the hidden trap doors and went there. _You_hid in a tree."

"So where do Urahara and Ayame fall into this?"

"Since we can't find Ayame, we can assume that he found her and took her. They're hiding together."

"Could they have left?"

"No, that wouldn't be fun for Urahara. He's here and probably doesn't want to be found, so he-"

"Wait, does that mean he's trying to get in her pants?"

_Whack!_After slapping Renji in the back of the head, she continued. "He managed to sneak a force field without her seeing, so he's somewhere in here, but we can't see him. For all we know he could be right next to us."

"So how do we find them?"

"Go around and touch things. This is along the lines of any force field, so we can feel around and if we feel it just right, we'll find a bend."

"That'll take hours!"

"Then get started."

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All Ayame could think at the moment was 'nice'- she was currently leaning on Urahara, who had his left arm around her shoulder. She just loved how much heat he was radiating and how it warmed her where he came in contact with her. "Mmm... Kisuke-kun..."

"Huh?"

Nuzzling her cheek on his shoulder, Ayame breathed in his scent, which was a mixture of deliciousness and Urahara. It was strange how such a rock-hard man could be so soft, with muscles so tight. She was sure that under his skin was strong meat that she couldn't even begin to explain. Curiosity got the best of her, so she lifted her fingers to his shoulder and firmly pressed her fingers to his skin so she could feel the direct brick-quality of his muscles. Next she twisted her body so she could trace her fingers over his pectoral, loving the feel of the tense skin and the way it stretched over tightly. "Kisuke-kun, your skin is so... Is it all like that?"

Laughing to himself, Urahara smirked, "why don't you see for yourself?" Taking the chance, Urahara untied the strings that were in a bow on the right side of his green shirt and then proceeded pull it open to reveal his bare torso. Amazed, Ayame stared at the ground, fully aware of the deep pink blush that was flooding her cheeks. Urahara suddenly got a burst of bravery and lifted her hips and moved her so that she was straddling his lap. Her knees were wrapped around his hips, making her sit on him. Knowing she was about to apologize or something of that nature, Urahara beat her to it. "Ayame-chan, it's alright, go on." When she didn't reply, he took action by holding her hand in his and placing it on his other arm so his hand was on the back of her's, guiding her. "This is my bicep... and my triceps..." He informed, slowly sliding her hand up his arm. "My deltoid..." Next he moved her to his chest where she started to move on her own, but he still kept his hand on her's. While he was sure there was nothing romantic going on, he did recognize that the actions were perhaps the most sensual thing he had ever felt. He watched as Ayame moved down his chest, tracing over the lines of his abdominals, where she started to move her hand all the way to the hem of his pants. It was somewhat erotic how she traced those muscles that made a path strait down into his pants, but naturally she stopped at his hem line. Not that he minded. To end her muscle trip, she traced back up his chest and made her way up his neck, enjoying the dip at the base of his throat. From there she moved her hand to his cheek, which was a bad move if she didn't want to get kissed. Truly, Urahara wanted to kiss her, he wanted her to pull his jaw forward and press her lips to his lips, from there he would then have proceeded to join her mouth with gentle caresses.

While Urahara was contemplating kissing her, Ayame moved her hand up to his hair, where she ran her fingers through his blonde hat-hair. She felt Kisuke's arms snaking around her waist and holding her close -only comforting her further. That's when she saw it; a small one inch long cut on the front of his left trapezius. It was red -_blood_red. And it was open enough to show how the skin was broken and a tiny layer of muscle was torn. "K-kisu-"

Suddenly Ayame fell forward on Kisuke's chest, passing out immediately. He was confused at first, but then he remembered that he and Ichigo had trained a few days earlier and the teenager was able to get him close to the neck. _She must faint at the sight of anyone's blood, no matter how big or how small. _Sighing and shrugging, Urahara relaxed back on the rock behind him and continued to hold her. He was _quite_okay with this.

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An hour later, Kisuke's attention was drawn to Ayame's sleeping face because she started to stir. For the past hour Kisuke was listening intently to the cute nothings that the poor girl spoke in slumber; it was easy to just watch the artificial clouds go by and listen in. For a while, he hadn't even noticed that the gibberish she was speaking was actually normal words backwards, that is until he thought about whom 'Ekusik Araharu' could be. Some times after she would say something, he'd sit for minutes trying to figure out what she was saying, like what he was working on now, "em ot laiceps os..." He was sure he'd be able to figure it out after a while, but it was rather difficult. The mind goes through a process of having to configure backwards letters. Japanese was a language with kanji symbols that have more than one meaning, so figuring out both spelling and context verbally, as well as based on memory, was hard. Holding her with one arm, he used his other hand to reach toward the dusty ground and pressed his finger in the light sand. The laziest way to figure it out would be to just write it out. Since Urahara was a smart man, it was easy for him to remember the gibberish phrase. First he wrote it out exactly as she said it, then took it letter by letter and moved them around.

_...em ot laiceps os..._

... ...

... so special to me ...

'What is so special, Ayame-chan?... What, or _who_?' He thought to himself as he sorted out the next phrase.

_...esrevinu ym...fo...enihsnus...eht..._

... ...

... the sunshine of my universe ...

...uretihsia...I taht tsaf os taeb traeh ym ekam...uoy iok Ekusik...  
_  
... uretihsia...I taht tsaf os taeb traeh ym ekam...uoy iok Ekusik..._

... ... ... ...

_... Kisuke-koi you... make my heart beat so fast that I ... aishiteru ..._

'These words... Are they for real? Am I really seeing these words together in the same sentence right in front of me? Kisuke? Koi? Heartbeat?... Aishiteru?... This can't be happening... This isn't right!' Suddenly Urahara violently wiped at what he had been working on and stared at the messy dust. 'This isn't right...I _must_be mistaken... Maybe I was listening half-heartedly? Or-'

"Kisuke!" Yoruichi said with a sharp voice as she came out from the other side of the rock he and Ayame were sitting behind. "We've been-" Finally the feline woman noticed his long face and squatted down to his level,"...Are you... '_shiteru_'... Kisuke... Could that have perhaps said 'I love you' before you wiped it away?"

"She was talking in her sleep again."

Frowning, Yoruichi shook her head. "If you're thinking you're wrong right now, stop."

And she left it at that.

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"Well, now that that mystery is solved, I suppose we should move on to the next activity," Yoruichi declared, ending the chatter.

"Yeah," Renji mumbled from under his breath, earning a smack to the back of the head from the cat woman. That said woman asked him to 'share with the class' what the next activity was to be. Piñata.

"'Piñata'? What's that?"

The younger redhead, Jinta, grinned a wide and sly grin. "Only the best game ever_, _idiot! Are you stupid?!"

"J-jinta!" Ururu gasped, appalled.

"What was that, teme?!" The boy then proceeded to pull her into a headlock to give her a nugie.

"Now now, Jinta, let her go," Urahara requested calmly and lightly. When the boy finally did, he began to explain the game to Ayame. "Well, everyone takes turns beating that," he then pointed to point to a paper mache flower hanging from seemingly nowhere. "The trick is, you have to be blind folded, see? And the one who breaks it open gets to see the special surprise first, and then it's a free for all!"

When Urahara ceased to mention what the best part was, Jinta jumped up yelling, "You forgot to say the can-" Before he could get the word out, Urahara quickly covered his mouth with his hand from behind. "Tch kahndur! Tch kahndur!" [The candy! The candy!] After whispering into his ear, Urahara let him go. "Not cool!"

Losing all seriousness, Yoruichi smiled and watched the scene before her. "Ayame-chan, are you ready to try it out? Come here!"

"O-okay," the girl responded nervously as she walked the short five feet to Yoruichi. "What do I do again?"

"Well, first we're going to blindfold you, then we're going to spin you around. Then you can whack away three times!" Twisting her around, Yoruichi placed the blindfold over her lavender eyes and tied the two loose ends in the back. "There!"

In the dark, Ayame felt someone put something long and round in her hands. Next she felt hands on her shoulders, spinning her around, they were large and warm hands, so she was sure it was Urahara. Just as she stopped spinning she heard someone say to start, so she lifted the stick in the air and swung. After swinging and missing three times, Ayame was turned 180 degrees and told to try again. _Swing_miss. _Swing_miss. _Swing_mit!

Urahara and the rest of the gang watched shocked as the stick Ayame was wielding came back around and hit her square in the forehead, knocking her to the ground. "And out she goes..."


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys back from vacation! I wrote a lot, so I hope I will have enough to update steadily for a while.... Hope you like it, if not, sorrrrrryyyyyyy.....

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Ayame woke up tired, and her head hurt really bad.

"Ayame-chan, how is your head?" She heard someone, Urahara, ask from above her. She craned her neck up so that she could see him better. He was wearing a smile that she often saw; the one that said 'I know it hurts, but I'm going to smile for you anyway.' That one she was _quite_ used to. "Is the medicine working at all?"

Smiling, Ayame nodded her head, "yes, it doesn't hurt at all, thanks you." It was a lie, of course , but she hated making him and the rest of the gang constantly take care of her, when they already seemed to have a lot on their plate. Her head hurt, but seeing Kisuke grin with relief was worth it. What's a little pain amongst friends? "Sorry for fainting again, everyone..."

Yoruichi put a hand on the weak girl's shoulder, "it's fine, don't worry kid. And as for the game..."

"I'll be helping you this time." The shop keeper finished for her, reassuring his little friend Ayame with a light tap. "I wont let it hit you this time! I promise!"

"O-okay K-Kisuke-kun!" The said girl replied with a slight grin.

The blonde laughed, "what, you don't trust me?....Yoruichi-san! I don't think she trusts me!"

Yoruichi put on a playful smirk, "I wouldn't either."

Gasping, Urahara threw a hand over his mouth, "no Ayame-chan! Don't listen to her!" Next thing he knew, he was diving on top of her, tickling her mercilessly.

Hanako flailed underneath the man, giggling uncontrollably. "N-no Kisuke-k-kun!"

"Do you trust me yet?!" He wasn't giving in, not until she said yes!

"Don't do it Ayame!" Yoruichi just barely blocked the light back kick he sent her, mid-tickle.

"Trust me?!"

Ayame was just about to giggle out 'maybe' but Urahara was suddenly kicked off her with a sneaker-covered foot. Ayame,Urahara, and Yoruichi stopped playing immediately and stared up at Jinta, who had a halo of storm cloud around his head. "I...Want...The...C-" He almost got the word out, but hands from Tessai, Ururu, and Renji all covered his mouth. He rolled his eyes and waited for them to remove their paws. "...The 'magical surprise' " He said with his voice dripping with sarcasm.

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"Okay, Ayame, this time no spinning, no blindfold, and he'll help you with the stick." Yoruichi said with a smile as Urahara got situated behind Ayame, very close. "Here's the bat."

When Ayame held the stick in her hands with a comfortable position, Kisuke put his hands over her's. She liked this indirect hug. "Y-you're going to help me K-kisuke-kun?" The brunette knew the answer when she felt him get closer to her back, when she felt the heat radiating from his chest, when she felt the beat of his heart touching hers. If his hands weren't over her's, Ayame was sure the bat wasn't going to stay in her hands. It would fly out of her sweaty hands and probably hurt someone, so it was good that he was there. Because she was only noticing Urahara's intoxicating presence behind her, she could only vaguely hear Yoruichi's order to lower the pinata, as well as others.

As much as Ayame was, Kisuke was well aware of how close they were, and how hot it was getting with the friction between them. At this point he wished his arms were a hundred feet long; just so he could wrap her entire body in his arms. If Ayame didn't want what he was about to do, then she shouldn't have worn her soft hair in a ponytail, as he couldn't control himself. Half lifting her, half tilting his neck, Urahara finally pressed his lips to the bare skin of her neck. Her skin was smooth and sweet tasting, just as he expected. This wasn't planned to begin with, but once the deed had started, he had only hoped to leave it as a light peck. However, he found his lips opening and his tongue darting out to fully taste her delicious skin. It wasn't long before his hands let go of Ayame's to wrap around her, and her hands let go of the bat in shock. The sound of wood hitting the dusty ground wasn't noticed by them, but it was noticed by everyone around them. Kisuke and Ayame had not the faintest clue about the eyes watching them, they were to focused on Kisuke's lips sucking, licking, and biting her neck. It was like he couldn't control himself; he found that he was squeezing her tighter and sucking harder, and she wasn't even trying to get away. In fact, she was actually pressing back on him, molding her body right into his; hip to hip. Before he even knew it, he was stepping in front of her ankles and gently lowering her to the ground where he strattled her and continued his ministrations on her neck. His hands were on her hips now, lightly tugging at her belt loops, while her hands were reaching up in his hair. At this point neither of them cared that her brand new purple tanktop was getting smothered in dust, in fact, Urahara wouldn't mind if it was simply off. Kisuke groaned, with her taste on his tongue and the feeling of her hands running through his hair, he was bound to go crazy; probably with lust. Though he wouldn't quite mind. "Kisuke..." Her voice finally rang, sounding like a bell in his ears, breaking him from the trance of her skin that he was in, and it caught him off guard.

Gasping, he quickly detached his lips from her neck and pushed off the ground so that there was no more body contact and leaned over her. He watched her turn over so she was on her back facing him, and her face made him have mixed emotions. Those emotions were: fear, fear of her rejecting him, hatred, of himself, for allowing this slip up to happen, joy, because he finally got to kiss her skin, and obviously love.

Love for Hanako Ayame.

"Kisuke..."

"Ayame?"

She stared up at him, unsure of what he was feeling. It was a great time to have psychic abilities, but she didn't. She saw that he looked nervous, but she wasn't sure why, so she decided to comfort him while she could. Lacing her fingers in his hair would not do much, that she knew, but it made her feel a little better. Kisuke closed his eyes, so she took that as a good sign and continued her light strokes in his blonde hair. Before she could say anything in reply, Urahara took action and lowered himself to his elbows so that some of his weight was on her. The blonde bowed his head over her shoulder, not wanting to face her as he spoke. "Ayame," he said deeply, "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have done that to you... But I did, and I can't say that I would take it back if I could... Ayame... you're so lovely."

"L-lovely?" She repeated.

"Yes. Very lovely." His deep voice answered huskily, almost as if he were in the trance again. He knew she was about to ask why, so he answered for her, while he still had an answer. "...Because that's just how you are, you're lovely, beautiful, stunning, inside and out." He had managed to dodge being completely honest before he said something that might sound offensive to her, for example, he would have loved to be honest and tell her 'And I want to touch you, inside and out.' But he knew that would be wrong to say, being a gentleman as he was. Knowing that his moment with Ayame was ephemeral, he tried to savior it as long as he could, not wanting to waste a single second. Just as he expected, a tap on his shoulder brought his attention back to the fact that there were people around him. As it was, it was Yoruichi who was the only one brave and soft enough to go and draw their display toward an end.

"...I hate to break this on you... But..." She said, but Urahara already knew what must happen.

He sighed, "I know."

"And we'll have a-"

"I know." Of course he knew he was going to have to have a talk with Yoruichi -rather, he would listen and she would banter on. Kisuke stood up and stared intently in Ayame's violet orbs as he helped her up to her feet. "I'm sorry, Ayame." He thought she would hate him, but he was pleasantly surprised when she smiled widely at him; happy as a clam.

"You have nothing to apologize for, I l-liked that..." She replied humbly.

Yoruichi found this extremely funny and clapped her hands, "oh! You did now?! I guess I'll just have... Oh...Renji or Ichigo do it for you-"

"No!" The young Hanako girl burst out. When she realized what she had done, she quickly blushed and covered her mouth. "J-just Kis-kisuke-kun...P-please..."

The pitiful look Ayame held on her face made the said man gather her up in a hug and whisper in her ear, "don't worry Ayame... Just me...Only let me..." When he felt her nod her head by his chest, he turned so that he only had one arm wrapped around her and so they were facing everyone else. "I guess we'll let the game begin!"

"**Finally!**" Jinta hollered, throwing his hands in the air with exasperation. "I don't want to waste anymore time with you two necking all over the place I want my can-"

Once again his mouth was covered and he wasn't allowed to continue, so Ururu continued on, as she was polite enough talk without ruining the surprise. "Well, why doesn't Yoruichi help her this time?"

Urahara frowned, "Ururu, I am old enough to handle a trivial matter like this." As if he had yelled at her, Ururu started to cry, feeling bad like she had insulted him. "Shhh...Ururu-chan," he cooed as he brought her up in a hug, "It's alright, you didn't hurt my feelings. I know you meant no harm. You don't need to cry, we're alright." Gently he patted her back as her crying began to diminish. "There we are." When Urahara set her down again, she was wiping her tears away, creating no new ones. "Now, let me see your smile, Ururu-chan."

It is always hard to smile after one has been crying, but the young dark haired girl tried her best, and that was enough for her employer. "Gomen..."

"No need to say sorry, you didn't do anything wrong. Would you like to announce the start of the game for me?" When she nodded, he knew she was going to be alright. "Good. Ayame, grab the bat and come on over!"

sdsdsdsdsdsdsdsds

After the Pinata deal was over, of which Ayame was quite sad it was over, Yoruichi decided that it was time for cake, and time for a chat with Renji. She tried asking politely, and when that didn't work, she resorted to morbid threats of violence. "Renji, help me get the cake up stairs?" Then, "Renji, help me with the cake up stairs." And when that didn't work, "Renji, get upstairs now, before I decide we should all play pin the tail on Renji."

That worked.

Reluctantly, the said redhead stomped up the ladder to the top. "What do you want?" Not that he actually wanted to know. This wasn't in the job description. His job was to stay in Karakura and protect it from hollows and other dangerous things, not going to some cute girl's birthday party. People don't realize how hard it is to _not_ completely bust through a pinata. Very hard. Though Renji felt he had to give Hanako credit for being able to hide for so long, though he knew it was the work of Urahara. "Did you really need my help for such a light task? Ah, can't handle it can you, Yoruichi-san!?" The said cat girl, who had been ignoring him while she led him to the kitchen, finally reacted. She flash stepped to slam him against the wall behind him. There was no use in trying to push away her flying hands when she was so determined.

"Damn it!" She yelled and elbowed him across the face. Once again she slammed him against the wall, she was pissed off, and he could tell.

Renji was shocked to say the least, he just looked confused and yelled, "what the hell?!" Before she could start another attack on him he pushed her away, not that that did anything anyway.

"You've been _bugged_ you idiot!" Yoruichi held out the tiny metal device in front of his eyes. "Do you _see_ this? Now you tell everything I need to know,got it?" She waited for him to nod before she continued. "Were you walking around in your gigai today?"

"Obviously. I was at the theaters with everyone."

"Don't get smart with you wearing that shirt yesterday at all?"

"No."

"Did you run into anyone? Someone you didn't know?"

"It's a city, of course I bumped into people."

"Was there anyone you saw who was noticeably suspicious?"

"It's a city, of course I saw sketchy people."

"Shut up. This is serious. Did anyone touch you or anything like that?"

"Actually now that I think about it,there was a creepy guy out side the theaters. I kept an eye on him, but then he disappeared inside, so I wrote it off."

"Did you see him again?"

"Yeah, it was dark, but he was sitting in the row behind us I think....Oh _shit..._ He tapped my shoulder, saying we were being too loud... Shit... I didn't see him after that..." The realization was finally dawning on him. "He moved _up_."

"Right after?"

"No, he waited a bit..."

Yoruichi looked troubled, and she was putting pieces together, pieces that she _really_ didn't want to put together. "Before or _after_ Kisuke came back..."

The red head knew that something bad was happening. And he knew that 'bad' was fast approaching. "After."

"Did you see where he moved?"

"Up... About six rows up... He sat _right _behind them."

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dun dun dun! Thanks guys!


	11. Chapter 11

I know it's short, but lately I've been getting some really sweet reviews so I wanted to post, because I really was touched, so that's why it's so short... *bow* thank you!

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"Up... About six rows up... He sat _right _behind them."

"I need you to think, really hard. What. Did. He. Look. Like?" The cat-woman's eyes were glowing with anger, wiether it be at herself, for allowing this little slip up, or at Renji, for being stupid and not recognizing the trouble, or at everything, for simply existing. "Come on."

Renji thought, and he thought _hard_, but nothing was happening in his mind. "I don't know! How would I remember something like that?!"

Yoruichi was losing her cool. She needed answers and she needed them now. "Did he have hair like Ayame's!?"

"No. He was a _man_."

When pigs flew was when Yoruichi decided Renji was named intelligent. Sure, she figured, he could fight decently, but the lack of brain set him back. Far back. "Hair color."

"Oh yeah. He did. I think. Maybe."

"Yes or no."

"Yo."

"Be serious asshole! Did he or didn't he?!"

"He did have hair like Ayame's."

"And eyes?"

"I forgot to check when I stared deeply into his eyes."

"Did he look like Ayame? At all? In anyway?"

"He did. You could tell he was her dad."

"And this didn't strike you as odd?" Yeah. She decided that the blame _was_ going to be put on him. She really didn't want the answer. "Nevermind. Go get the ice cream." She herself was just about to go get the cake from the fridge, but someone in the store part of the building knocked over something, so she had to go investigate. People really just never understood what the hanging 'closed' sign on the doors actually meant. As in '**closed**'. Being stealthy, as she wasn't exactly sure who was there, she glanced through a window to see some people she really never expected to see. Especially now. And she wasn't exactly sure _why_ they were there, but they were there. All five of the higher places of the eleventh division of the thirteen protection squads. There was the scary one, the cute one, the bald one, the pretty one, and the one no one really talks about. They were also known as taicho, fuku-taicho, and third, fourth, and fifth seats. Or Kenpachi Zaraki, Kusajishi Yachiru, Ikkaku Madarame, Ayasegawa Yumichika, and Mazaki Aramaki. "What the hell are you guys doing here?" She was less than blunt.

"Well! Yoru-yoru-chan! Ken-chan gotta message from Yama-je-kun and he said you guys were doin' some suspicious questions 'bout some bad thingies! So we gotta make sure ya don't do weirdo things!" Yachiru said with excitement as she climbed up to the top of her captain's head.

"Huh...." Was Yoruichi's reaction. It seemed strange that the commander would even take interest in their little problem. They were used to them always hacking into their research records, so she was wondering why they would even care. She figured the head honcho's knew something they hadn't found out yet. She wanted to ask all the questions she really needed answers to, but it was Ayame's birthday, and if an attack was going to come, it wouldn't come so soon, so she decided to hold off all questions.

"And we heard there was cake!" The pink haired girl added, not that she needed to _hear_ about cake, the girl could probably smell it from the next world. "I want cake!"

"It's a birthday party..." Slowly Yoruichi talked, to give herself extra time to think things through. If the commander knew something bad was approaching, really bad, then that would be why Zaraki was there. Though, she wasn't sure how much she should say to them, and thought about their reactions. Zaraki would be psyched about a big fight coming, the other boys wouldn't care about their illegal war, and Yachiru would just simply adore being with Ayame. "You're welcome to come."

"Who's birthday?!" The younger girl grinned, already pulling on her captain's hair to make him move forward. "I already got a present!" When everyone raised a brow, she just laughed and said, "I always have a present! Now make her tell me who it is Kenny!"

Zaraki didn't need to say anything, or even look menacing -though Yoruichi knew she could take him- for her to oblige. She was going to say anyway. "It's for a girl named H...Ayame. Want to see her?"

"Oh yes! Show me the cake!"

---------------

Ayame was having a good time with Urahara, sitting in between his legs on the dusty ground as he talked about nothing in particular. The other's were setting up a table somewhere else, trying to be discrete, which was easy because she wasn't that observant in the first place. To prove that, she was even drawing little doodles in the dirt. Kisuke felt Zaraki Kenpachi's reitsu pretty quickly, and it confused him, but he show it. He was thinking on the same path as Yoruichi. wondering why he, and his team, were even there. And just like Yoruichi, he suspected that the presence of the blood thirsty squad meant that the trouble around Ayame was going to get much worse. Under human circumstances, he would have told the other's about the added guests upstairs, but he knew they could feel the large man was upstairs. "Ayame-chan, there are some more people I would like you to meet, and they came to celebrate your birthday too, okay?"

"Oh of course! I love meeting new people, for the most part," she said, tracing lines on the palm of his hand. She loved playing with his hands, so when they were sitting and he offered her his hand to play with, she gladly accepted. "Are they your friends?"

Urahara wasn't sure exactly why they were here. He knew obviously if they were there to hurt her or take her, they would have already moved in and taken her away. Though if the commander called them to attack her, she must be something fierce if they sent squad eleven, or they anticipated her being protected, or they knew that her father was trying to take her as well. There were many things to be considered. If they were here to just observe what they were doing, then he figured he could use them to protect her just in case. Then again, the commander could get new information and order her death at any moment. He'd have to watch out for that. "More or less."

"Oh, okay!"

"Ayame! Kisuke! Come on over to the table!"

Upon hearing Yoruichi calling them, Urahara helped his little friend to her feet and pulled her by the hand. Not that she minded. Ayame wasn't sure what was going on, but she was happy, just plain happy. When the table came into view, the first thing she saw was the massive man towering over, well, everything. Next was the tiny girl perched on his head, what shocked her most was the bright sakura hair on her head. She was adorable in Ayame's opinion. Next was a bald man, a very pretty man in orange, and an older man who looked like he wasn't sure what he was doing. "Ayame-chan, I'd like you to meet Zaraki-taicho, Kusajishi-fuku-taicho, Ikkaku, Ayasegawa, and... I always forget his name..."

Before the said nameless man could yell, the pink haired girl jumped off of her captain's head, on to Ikkaku's, and then she leaped right in front Ayame and Kisuke. "Hi! Call me Yachiru! We're gonna be besties!"

"O-okay...N-nice t-to meet y-you Yachiru..."Ayame's cheeks were turning bright red, not used to people offering their first names so quickly. She was nervous, and Kisuke could tell by how hard she was squeezing his hand, which wasn't much in comparison to a healthy twenty year old. He knew the reason was because of Yachiru's boldness, but he also realized that Zaraki's intense aura was very intimidating for her, so he pulled her hand so she was closer and a tiny bit behind him. Her hand loosened a little, so he could tell that his actions had worked. "A-and everyone e-el-else as we-well..."

Zaraki eyeballed the little Hanako, staring her down. "Suzukyo Mayu."

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Well, to be honest, I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go wit this, but now I have an idea so hopefully I'll be ambitous and think up some more. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, you didn't have to but you did any way, and that just made me smile, which I really needed lately, so thanks :]


	12. Chapter 12

Hi everyone! How's it goin'?! Well, once again I wanna thank those who reviewed, even though they didn't have to, it was very thoughtful and it made me smile. I'm still standing by my theory that you don't have to, because no one really likes to unless they have something to say, but thanks. They did really make me smile!

Well, you know who you are, but I took your suggestion immediately, starting with the last chapter, I _think_. I hope I represented them the way you were hoping. I loved the suggestion as soon as I read it, plus, it totally made me able to think of the entire story line, so I really wanna thank you. The story is all mapped out now, thanks to your _brilliant_ idea! So yeah! You're awesome!

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Zaraki eyeballed the little Hanako, staring her down. "Suzukyo Mayu."

"What?" Everyone said at once. "Her name is Ayame, you must be mistaken." Renji said, once everyone got done staring confused at the captain.

"Maybe," the captain loomed, "Her name was Suzukyo Mayu. Though she looked a little different." He turned to Ayame, "you have a sister? A slightly older one?"

Ayame was torn. "...I-I don't k-know..." She had no idea who she was, let alone if she had siblings. Her eyes watered, she could have a sister somewhere out there, and there was no way to know. A sister could help her know who she was, where she came from, and maybe what her purpose was. It killed her to not know if she really did have a sister.

"She doesn't know _anything_ about herself." Kisuke explained. "It's possible."

Everyone was quiet. The people who had known Ayame the longest weren't saying anything because they knew that they hadn't even considered a sibling. The others weren't sure _what_ was going on, but knew it was trouble. Both groups were mulling over the new news.

"Kenny?" Yachiru asked softly after a while.

The tall man grunted, ending his fuku-taicho's inquiry. Also ending the conversation was Yoruichi. "We'll talk about this _later_, right now is a birthday party, right Kusajishi-san?" The pink haired girl perked right up, knowing that it was cake time. The tension was thick, but she was going to end it, because she knew Yoruichi was right, it was a party, and parties were meant to be happy times. "Ayame, I know you're really confused right now, but we'll figure it out some other time."

Kisuke looked down to her devastated face, he understood that she felt she needed to know if she had a sister, but he wanted her to understand that she had a family with her, right then and there, who cared about her. "Ayame-chan..." Ayame looked up at him, expecting him to understand the turmoil in her stomach, but she was disappointed when he talked. "I think Yoruichi is right..." It killed him to see her heartbroken face, but he wanted, maybe needed, her to understand. "This is your day, and the thing about birthdays is that your family is with you, the whole time." Ayame didn't understand, she had no family yet. "I know what you're thinking, but you need to understand, that families aren't made of blood. They're made of people, ones who care about you; ones who are so happy that you came into their lives..." Everyone was surprised at Urahara speech, including himself. He was never one to think so thoughtfully about matters such as family. He'd had many friends for years, but he'd never even realized what it became. He had planted seeds, not knowing what they would sprout to be, only knowing that they would either grow into a bloom or wilt away. His friends were never just friends, they were family, and they grew to be so without him even noticing. "Ayame, birth days are celebrated for a reason, to mark the day a friend and family member is born. Let us be your family, knowing we'll leave your side. We're going to help you figure your life out, but this party is how this _family_ is coming together. Do you-"

"K-kisuke..." She was crying now, and not because everyone's eyes were on her. She felt no better when Kisuke wrapped his arms around her, but she realized what he was talking about made no sense except for the family part. And she wanted it. She mumbled the word alone, testing it on her tongue. "K-kazoku..." The word itself was strange to her, a word she hadn't used before. It was never told to her either. "My kazoku... Arigato...Kisuke-kun..."

Yoruichi smiled at Urahara and Ayame, watching their exchange and immediately feeling their growth. Urahara pat her head and hugged her to him. "Ayame, understand what he means? We're your family, and you're stuck with us." It was even weird for the purple haired girl to say it.

"I-I do..." The weak girl answered. "...So t-thank you..."

Yoruichi was ready to start the party by then, as she felt everyone was finally comfortable with the air. "No more thank yous, it's cake time." She then stepped aside, revealing a stunning cake sitting on the picnic table that was set up behind her. From the looks of it, the cake had chocolate frosting with sliced strawberries around the border. As Urahara led her toward it, Ayame saw that the curly handwriting on it read 'Happy Happy Birthday Ayame!' in a pale yellow frosting. She couldn't help but smile. Her _family_ was very thoughtful, and they even pinned down the colors she took likings to, the pastel yellow table cloth, the lilac colored paper plates, cups, and utensils, and the faint pink on the insides of the strawberries that made her mouth water.

"Ayame-chan, you sit right here," the blonde told her, pulling out the chair that sat right in front of the cake. When she did, everyone else found a place at the table. Naturally Urahara sat on her right, and Yoruichi sat to her left, leaving everyone else to find a spot next to them. Zaraki especially looked strangely at ease towering over everyone since he sat in the middle on Yoruichi's side. Yachiru was as happy as can be; eyes never leaving the cake, Ikkaku was pouting, trying not to look excited for cake, though everyone saw it plainly, and Ayasegawa was thinking that the cake was almost as pretty as him. Almost.

And of course Mazaki, the nameless wonder, was dying from laughing on the inside because he was so confused. Especially when the room dimmed into a night setting randomly.

Ururu pulled out a small purple box from her skirt and requested that Zaraki pass it down, and so he passed it to Jinta, who passed it to Yoruichi, who opened the small three inch box and shook out white and purple striped candles into her hand. Ayame counted the candles as Yoruichi pushed the candles in one by one. Twenty.

As they were lit, Urahara leaned over and explained, "now, we're going to sing a song for you." Everyone began to sing the said song, in no unison whatsoever, but it was treasured by Ayame none the less. "Otanjou-bi omedetou gozaimasu!Ayame!" They all called at the end.

"Blow out the candles," Kisuke told her, but he was leaning over, so the candle light caught his cheeks, and she began to stare. He was glowing, and he was looking mighty fine in her eyes. _His_ eyes were magnificent, the sea-foam and grey eyes held the sparkle of the flame, dancing like rain on a window pane. He brought the sides of his lips up and move his hand to stroke her cheek briefly. In a deep voice, he gently whispered to her, "blow out the candles, and make a wish;any wish at all..."

Gazing at him for one last moment, Ayame nodded and turned to the swirling fire before her. She closed her eyes and thought of what she would wish for. She could wish for anything.

Suddenly it became clear what her wish would be, and wish it did she.

Everyone clapped as the thin smoke rose from the candles, and Yoruichi carefully removed them from the cake to avoid getting wax on the frosting. "Here, I'll cut and start serving," she told the girl. Yachiru and Jinta were already asking what she wished for, suggesting a giant cake or to be the greatest athlete ever.

Urahara patted the top of her hand, telling her that if she told what her wish was, it wouldn't come true. Of course she nodded frantically. It was an _important_ wish.

Yoruichi finished plating everyone's pieces, "you have to eat the first bite, then we all can start eating, so dig in!"

The cake was delicious in Ayame's mouth. The actual cake part was white cake, but it had layers of smushed bananas in it. With the banana, the vanilla, the chocolate, and the strawberry flavors in her mouth she practically melted on the spot. It was possibly the best thing Ayame had ever had. She had only gotten to the second bite before Yachiru called out that she was ready for seconds.

Zaraki passed his plate across the table to her saying, "I'm not a big sweets person." But he did take some bites from it.

It wasn't like Yachiru cared, anyway. She dug in. Again.

Kisuke was enjoying the cake and talking with Ayame about how it suddenly became day in the room, when he noticed the yellow frosting on her lips. If he wasn't mistaken, he swore it was in the shape of a tiny tiny heart. Everyone stopped talking and watched the two, who were blissfully unaware of their eyes following their moves. He had stopped talking himself upon seeing the frosting anyway, so he had no need to be completely silent suddenly, as his infatuation had already switched from the night and day to yellow frosting and pink lips.

Finally, he leaned forward toward Ayame, trying to decide which he wanted to eye at the moment, her gorgeous eyes or her succulent lips. Before he had time to choose, he found he was already nose to nose with the young woman. He -and everyone else- was now aware that his lips were mere centimeters from her's. His chin was moving forward on its own, but he tried to control himself. Just as his lips were about to touch her's, he reached his hand up between them and lifted the frosting on her lips to his finger. The same finger made it past his own lips to taste the sweet frosting, as well as her lips.

She gasped in response, but had no time to react, as she and everyone else's attention was drawn to Ikkaku yelling at Yachiru. "That's _my_ cake! You had two pieces already! Get your own! Stop trying to eat my slice!"

Yachiru was already on top of the bald man's head, holding on for dear life as he trying to pull her off. "Just a bite Marble-head!"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Is it lemon?"

"What the hell is what lemon?!"

"The shiny-polish you use on your head!"

Ikkaku gaped furiously, rolling his eyes up trying to see the offender on his head. "Don't chew on my head! Your drool is running down my forehead! Ew!Oh god! My eye! It's in my eye!...And I'm not bald! I shave! I am clean shaven! Shave shave shave!"

Yachiru bent over his head to look at him upside down. "............."

"What."

"Pachinko-dama!"

"Stop calling me marble head!"

"Okay! Baldy-chan!"

With one hand, Ikkaku pulled her off his head and held her at eye level. "Oh look. A nice, shiny set of candy keys over there!"

And there went Yachiru.

"That was mean Madarame, and you know she might kill you for teasing her..." Ayasegawa remarked slyly, trying not to laugh.

Zaraki knew it was true.

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Yeah, it was short, but I was on a roll writing today, so I had more than enough to start posting :] Hope you liked it, but if you didn't, that's okay too, I'll try harder :]


	13. Chapter 13

Hey everyone! It's been a long time, sorry! Well, I'm hoping I can update more and more, because my schedule is a little more regulated now, but I'm still in school, so stuff will come up and I will have busy times, so please understand :] But I love that there are readers out there,and that makes me happy, and I want you all to be happy! So lemme know if you have an idea, because I'll generally use them if they dont conflict with whatever I have already written.

But just like Piratequeen0's suggestion it make take an update or two to take affect, because I onlly update when I have the next couple chapters written out, in case I need to change stuff. But yeah! Thanks!

And Beka Collins! (shadowdemontenma)(Shinrai)::How did you know I was a Sesshy fan?! Korkoro is kick ass! I love your story! I read right before karate, so I didnt have time to review, so I'll tell you now!: 3 LOVEEEE

And naturally everyone:Thank you :] I will update! Because I loves yous!

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Enough talking, Sorry :]}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

"Yay! Presents!" Yachiru cried with happiness as she set her eyes on the brightly wrapped boxes coming toward her and Ayame. They had been sitting together while Urahara and the rest of them were upstairs grabbing something. "Aren't you excited Ayame-chan!?"

"F-for what?" The birthday-girl asked her new friend.

Yachiru playfully slapped her shoulder and jumped up, "Silly! Haven't you ever had a birthday before?!" When Ayame just looked at her sadly and shook her head, the pink haired girl slapped her hand over her mouth. "Noooo Wayyy! Where have you been!?"

Ayame shrugged, "I d-don't know..."

"Oh clutzy-chan!" She cried, lunging at Ayame for a hug. "You're gonna love this!"

"Alright..."

"Hat-kun!!! Hurry up!"

Sure enough, Ayame's blonde friend came over and held out his hand to her, "Ayame-chan, are you ready?" She wasn't sure what she was getting ready for exactly, but she knew she was nervous, especially by the way her palms were sweating in his. His hands always surrounded her hands like mitten's,and that thought was so comforting. It was so cozy that she almost wasn't so surprised when they arrived back at to where everyone else was. The table was no longer there, but now there was a circle of cute little cushions and pillows that she quickly recognized as the ones that broke her falls multiple times. Next to most of the pillows, there was a brightly colored box or bag sitting. "Ayame, this is your spot, right here." Urahara had a hand on her shoulder and her hand as he gently sat her down on the tallest and prettiest pillow. He let go of her hand only so he could sit on the pillow that was closest to her on her right.

Shortly after they were seated, everyone else followed suit and sat in roughly the same spots they sat in when they were all at the table. To get the gathering started, Yoruichi coughed and smiled the rare smile that she saved for select days. "Alright is presents time!"

Renji, who wanted to get over his embarrassment quickly, spoke up, "mine first." Yoruichi nodded approvingly as Renji tossed a long cylinder shaped object to her, he knew Ayame couldn't catch, so it was good that Yoruichi had sat next to her. The present was in red wrapping paper and had gold polka dots on it with a gold ribbon for decoration. When Ayame was handed the gift, she looked to Urahara and Yoruichi for instructions, but it was Renji who helped. He already compromised her safety, so he was going to be as nice a possible to make up for it. "Open it, it's from me to you. I forgot a card though, hope you don't mind."

"N-not a-at all..." Ayame was just about to say he didn't have to, but Yoruichi stopped her.

"Ayame, one thing, you're not allowed to say thank you, and you're not allowed to say that it wasn't necessary. Everyone hear? No 'thank you's from Ayame." She turned back to the said girl, "it's against the rules, so no saying it. Got it?" Ayame nodded with wide eyes. "Now, tear off the paper and see what Renji got you!"

Ayame felt more at ease when she felt a warm hand on her right shoulder before she started to slowly unwrap the present. Her fingers worked with fine and precise skill, but her hand suddenly slipped, tearing the paper. She gasped at her clumsiness and started to form tears in her eyes, "I-I'm s-so sorr-ry! I-"

"Ayame," Urahara cooed, placing his arm around her shoulder, "it's okay, you're supposed to rip through the paper."

She hiccuped, feeling guilty, "b-but A-Abarai-san-"

Renji cut in this time, "the papers only there to make the present a surprise, so you just tear through the paper and throw it out. Don't worry about the paper, okay?"

Finally understanding, Ayame nodded and looked up at Kisuke with her soulful and flooded eyes. He hated to see her cry. Ayame, by nature, was a crier, but it still didn't stop him from wanting to hold her every time even a single drop fell down her cheek. Since he was already doing that, the next step to stop her tears was to stop the in their tracks. Taking both hands to either side of her face, he gently pulled her face forward so he could kiss away her tears. He hadn't realized that he had preformed such an intimate task until after the deed was done. And what a magical deed it was. For the second, third, or probably tenth time that day he found himself in shock at his own actions after he had already done it. It was so strange, one minute he'd be facing her, then the next minute he was being stared at by his peers for his intimacy. But as to not stir up new ideas, ones other than her birthday, he left the newly acquired thoughts to himself to save for later.

"There..." He murmured softly, "no more tears, Ayame."

Once again, it was up to Yoruichi to start things up again, as well as kill the seriousness surrounding those who witnessed her blond friend's affection. "Okay, open it up Ayame-chan!"

Ayame finally began to tear the paper off the present, but when all the paper was off, what lied underneath was still vague. However, she spotted a rubber band around the center. Going by instincts, she rolled it off toward one end and found that the cylinder loosened up, revealing an end. After some unrolling, she found that it was a large poster of a chappy bunny with flowers and hearts all around it. It was so cute to Ayame that she simply glowed with joy, and that was truly something that Renji and Urahara noticed. "Oh wow!"

"Do you like it?" Renji asked, though he was already proud that he did a good job of picking it out, even though he did have some help from Rukia.

Of course Ayame nodded, "I really do!" Not wanting to break the rules, she had to stop herself before she thanked him, so she hoped her grin was enough to send her gratitude toward him wordlessly.

Next Yachiru offered up her gift, "take mine!" She didn't know Ayame long enough to know that she couldn't catch in any way, shape, or form, so when it came toward her at a remarkably fast speed, a hand darted out in front of her face, catching the little box in the nick of time. It was Urahara's hand, naturally, that save her from the box hitting her right in the head. "You can't catch, Clumsy-chan?" Kisuke shook his head as an answer. "Oh! I'll teach you later on!"

"O-okay Kusajishi-san-"

"It's Ya-chir-u cha-nnnnn! Now open it up!"

Ayame listened to directions and lifted the lid off the box. It was a pink box with a darker pink ribbon on top, and inside was a pink little card. When she got a better look at it, she saw that it had a little hand drawn picture of Yachiru and read 'This is an extra special card that lets you spend an entire day with me!' "That's so sweet Yac-" Ayame's finger slid across one of the card's edges, successfully cutting open her skin. Urahara was faster than Ayame though, before Ayame could even look down to see the damage, he had already took hold of her hand and stuck her finger tip in his mouth. "K-kisuke-k-kun?"

Everyone's eyes went wide at his display, but to save the mood, and Kisuke's skin, Yoruichi quickly said, "it stops the b-" She stopped herself pretty quickly, in order to save Ayame from fainting.

Not that Yachiru knew. "You mean blood?" The little pink haired girl asked with nothing but good intentions.

Ayame's head suddenly got fuzzy and she started to feel like she was floating. In all actuality, it was falling that she was feeling, but luckily Yoruichi was able to step behind her so she didn't fall. The new comers all gave a questioning look at the little drama going on, especially Zaraki, who was genuinely confused. "She faints at the sight of _it_, and talking about _it_ makes her all disoriented." Ayame, who was still conscious, could only barely understand what was going on, but she knew she needed to correct herself. With all her might she focused her eyes and her mind as acutely as she could manage. It was hurting her head, but she was trying, and luckily she tried hard enough because her vision finally stood still for her. "There you go Ayame, that's it," her friend praised encouragingly.

Ayame lightly smiled and slowly sat up, which wasn't a far distance to travel, as Yoruichi was holding her back up. Looking down her arm, she saw that Kisuke still had her. She felt his lips press on her skin to hold her in place and his tongue roll over the pad of her finger. His smoldering eyes suddenly locked with her's, mesmerizing her with his intensity. It felt like she couldn't look away, in fact, it felt like she was being pulled into him, without even moving. And she wanted to move, but the same gaze that was drawing her in was also keeping her frozen in place. It was becoming easier and easier to want to pull _him_ to _her_, this time around; she was becoming almost desperate in her hopes that he'd come to her. Words danced around in her head, just like Kisuke was experiencing, not forming sentences, but only scattered thoughts that flew around like sakura petals in the wind. The words in Ayame's head were those such a _touch_ _feel love hold together_.

The words in Kisuke's head were _touch feel love hold together._

Now, not only were there words, but colors; colors like romantic pink, sunny yellow, passionate purple, trusting greens, and everything in between. The color that stood out the most to Ayame was the one that was a familiar mix of green, blue, and grey. The familiarity was comforting in a sense that she could see the color before her eyes, feel the color in her heart, and hold the color in her head.

Kisuke was holding a different shade in his head, and that color was the passionate purple, the very one that he was seeing everyday. The color covered him in a way that he'd never felt before, and he was loving every second of it. However, in the back of his mind, he was terrified of this new revelation. Feeling colors, seeing words, and holding feelings; all of it was new, and it was unfamiliar to him. While he was scared in his head, his heart was certain, but what he wasn't certain of was the heart sitting right before him. It took him a second extra to realize that there really was a heart beating right in front of him, and her passionate purples were staring wide at him. The rainbow in his mind began to melt like ice as he took her hand in his and slowly pulled her finger out. Though he had started out with pure intentions of saving her from fainting, he knew now that the bleeding had stopped long ago, and he was just dragging it on. "There... Ayame-chan, you should be okay now..." He turned to Yoruichi, "Bandaid?" Yoruichi nodded and pulled out a bandaid from one of her pockets. "Thanks...And um..."

Getting the idea, Yoruichi, again, started the party back up, trying to avoid even more awkwardness. "So what did the card say, Ayame?"

Ayame, a little dazed, looked up at everyone else with a deep blush on her cheeks. "I-it said 'This is an extra special card that lets you spend an entire day with me! From your best friend Yachiru.' It's so sweet," Ayame again had to stop herself from thanking, so she used her smile to show it instead.

A deep cough drew everyone's attention to Tessai, who held up a hand sized brown thing with a pink ribbon. "This is mine for you. Please enjoy it." He passed the thing to Ayame, because his arms were long enough that he didn't even need to throw it.

Upon closer inspection, Ayame realized that the strange shaped object was actually a sweet potato, a large on at that. She grinned, not because she got such a strange present, but because she was so happy that Tessai remembered how much she loved her first sweet potato pie that he made for her. "You remembered that?" She asked, totally surprised, but even more surprised when he confirmed it. "That's s-so touching! I love it!"

Tessai grunted with a real 'Tessai smile', and said no more than that. But his silence was filled with Ururu speaking up with a soft and shy voice. "Could you please take mine next Hanako-san?"

"Of course she will!" Yoruichi called, knowing Ayame would be too shy to answer. "Pass it on down!"

Ururu nodded and passed the flat square box to Zaraki, who passed it to Jinta, who passed it to Yoruichi, who passed it to Ayame to end the train. The box was blue with a silver bow on top and had a little square of paper that said 'to Ayame from Ururu'. Gently Ayame tore the paper off the box after receiving a nod from Ururu. Yellow tissue paper was the first thing she saw, but after moving the paper, she saw that there was a multitude of brightly colored bands. Pulling them out, Ayame realized that the thin strips were bent into a round circle. "They're head bands," Ururu informed her, "I thought they were cute, so I picked some out for you..."

"H-how do you use them?" Ayame asked.

Urahara laughed a short laugh, "you wear them Ayame-chan, just like this." Taking a yellow one from her hand, he placed the head band over her hair and smiled, "there you go."

Yachiru, who somehow pulled a giant mirror out of her pocket, bounded forward to Ayame to show her what it looked like. "They _are_ cute Ururu-chan!I'm so happy!" There was one thing that she wanted to do for her to show just how happy she really was. She stood and walked through the center of the circle, until she was right in front of her little friend, "here..." Just as Urahara had done for her, Ayame placed a pink head band right in Ururu's hair, "now we can match..."

Ururu's eyes went wide and got teary, but she was still looking happy. "T-thank you A-Ayame-chan!" Next thing Ayame knew Ururu was jumping up to hug her. "Thank you, my friend!"

"F-friends, I-I like that!" Ayame cried as well, hugging the girl back.

Jinta scoffed and stood up, "girl stuff... Here... And I don't want one." Ayame and Ururu separated so they could look at the boy, who was holding out a zip lock bag to Ayame. "Go on, take one out, gush about it, then get on with the _girly_ stuff."

Ayame followed his directions and nearly started crying again when she pulled out one of the objects in the bag. The bag had several brightly colored ribbons that were already tied into bows. "Wow! They're a-awesome!" Jinta shrugged and mumbled something like 'of course they are.'

The one Ayame had taken out was a yellow one that matched her new headband perfectly, so Ururu took it from her hands and asked, "may I?" When she got the okay from Ayame, the little girl turned her around so she could fasten the bow to her brown pony tail. "There, it looks really good!"

"Oh Jinta-kun, that was so kind of you!" Ayame gushed, ready to start thanking already. "Really!"

"Yeah yeah."

Ayame realized that he was going to leave it at that, so she shyly went back to her own little cushion. Before she could sit down though, a bag caught her eye because it was right on her pillow. "Open it up Ayame," Yoruichi told her with a coy smirk on her face. The bag was brown and orange striped, but had purple tissue paper sticking out of the top. "Hope you like them..." Ayame began to take the stuffing out, but she stopped abruptly when she saw what was in the bag, and it was clear what it was. "Pull it out Ayame, show Urahara what I got for you!" The birthday girl's face went beet red before she could even pull it out of the bag. Kisuke saw her deep blush and decided to find out what was making the girl so embarrassed. Taking the bag from her hands, his eyes too went wide upon seeing the offending object. "Well? Yoruichi pressed, amused at his reaction.

"W-well..." Kisuke could only mumble.

oooooooooooooooooooo

I guess your imaginations will just have to make due until I update next, eh? Thanks guys!


	14. Chapter 14

Hey everyone, how's it going? Sorry it took so long! I couldn't bring myself to write! But This weekend I went on a writing spree, so I should have a few updates ready to publish :]

I don't have much to say right now, which is weird for me...So... Here ya go! Hope you like it!

OH! And I didn't exactly read over this because I'm tired and really wanted to update, so if it's messy, I'm sorry :[

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Taking the bag from her hands, his eyes too went wide upon seeing the offending object. "Well? Yoruichi pressed, amused at his reaction.

"W-well..." Kisuke could only mumble. Inside the bag was a pair of see-through purple undies that had a cute giant panda head on the hip. Clearly they were not built for wearing, but more like built for the taking-off part. Next to the undies was a matching bra that looked like it was for a very intimate day. "They're...."

Now the entire party wanted to see, curious of all their surprised looks. "What is it?"

Urahara didn't know how to answer, so he looked to Yoruichi for help, but he only got a look that told him what to do. Sure enough after looking in the bag again he saw that next to the undies and the bra was a thin clear bottle with a silver cap. Taking out the lip gloss, he held it up to show everyone, saving Ayame _and_ him from humiliation. Because he knew that they would make the connection that he would probably be the only one able to see her in them, the intimate apparels stayed _in_ the bag. "Lip gloss. See?"

The group gaped, not believing him for a second, so Yoruichi saved him some trouble, "not just _any_ lip gloss, this is the lip gloss that changes taste! The one from the Shinigami Women's Association!"

"Yeah!I didn't know Boobies bought one!" Yachiru called with excitement, "but didn't cha know we stopped sellin' them for-"

"Oh, I _know_ the reasons, Kusajishi, in fact, that's the _very reason_ I got one from you guys! The side affects are perfect!"

"Side affects?" Urahara asked cautiously.

"You'll see!"

"W-what's 'lip-gloss?" Ayame asked before Urahara could dig some more.

"Here," Yoruichi turned Ayame's chin so that she was looking right at her so she could put the shine on her lips. "you put it on just like that, and damn, you look great in it! Right Kisuke?"

Ayame looked at Urahara with unsure eyes, especially when his eyes went wide and his cheeks turned rosy. "Wow..." Ayame wasn't sure what was going on, or what the look in his eyes were trying to say, but it shocked her all together when he took her face in his hands and breathed in deeply. He seemed to be smelling her lips, but his eyes were locked on her's with a look that said he was getting closer for more than investigation. For a second, Ayame thought that he was about to say something when he parted his lips, but she was pulled backwards before he could do whatever it was he was about to do.

Yoruichi pulled her back by the waist and out of Kisuke's hold. The sudden action quickly jerked Urahara out of his trance, and it scared him with the sudden loss of control. "Woah woah, Urahara, let's not let it get rated R in here!"

"Rated R?" Ayame questioned.

Yoruichi laughed, "Don't worry about it, Ayame!"

Urahara was still in shock. He had nearly attacked her! It could've ended badly, though he was well aware that no _malicious_ ideas even scrolled through his head while he was trying his assault on her mouth. Even now they were calling to him; he was still looking away, yet his mind stayed on her glossy lips, and it wasn't going anywhere soon. It was like being pulled. This was definitely something he would need to discuss with Yoruichi, as there was not a doubt in his mind she was behind this thickening feeling. He needed to change the subject before he suddenly jumped Ayame's bones. "Ayame, are you r-ready for my gift?" His voice was sturdy like an oak tree, but he was still a little thrown off, and still a little mesmerized by the smell coming off of her lips. It took a moment, but he was able to tear away from looking at her so she could get back on her pillow and he could go and retrieve her present. Standing up, he quickly walked toward the giant his speed, he was able to get up and into his bedroom within seconds. He didn't want to slam the sliding door closed, but it happened anyway. It was frustrating, he knew he had more control than he was showing, but whatever that lipgloss had in it made her irresistable, or maybe he was just using it as an excuse. Thrusting his hand in his pocket, he pulled out the little box he had gotten for her and stared at it. When he opened it, he could only watch the light reflect off the silver heart on it. So many thoughts raced through his head, and maybe a demand or two as well. _Would she like it? Hate it? Would she see how important it was to give it to her? _He hoped she would see him as her guardian; her protector. Maybe it was possible that she would understand through the necklace in his hand, or maybe she would see it as fashionable. Kisuke would have loved to procrastinate going back, but he knew that as nervous as he was, there was a pretty girl waiting for him. He snapped the box closed with a click. "Time... What have you done to me?"

Ayame waited patiently for Kisuke's return while everyone around her chatted idly. She watched and smiled, occasionally nodding her head with agreement. She thought about all the new people who she's met recently. Before she met Kisuke, she would have never even dreamed of a meeting such as this, with wonderful people she could now call her friends. And that's just her friends, which she was sure Kisuke wasn't in that group. To her there were three groups; people bad for her, people she doesn't know, and people she knew as friends. However, there was something in her that told her that he was more than a friend. She was sure there were no other groups besides the three, but she felt something with him. After all, what could be more precious than a friend? Whatever Urahara was to her, she held him, and all of her other friends for that matter, close to her heart. Before she would have never been able to have them, and for that she was truly grateful. _Time, thank you for what you've done for me..._

A strong warm hand fell on her right shoulder, so she looked up to see her... She couldn't describe him... _Her Kisuke_ would work. He wore his hat off today, just for her, so she could clearly see his warm eyes looking down at her, he even held an endearing smile that made her heart melt into pure gold. It was feeling such as this that made him a category of his own. As he sat down on his own pillow, he kept his hand on her shoulder so he could gently guide her until she was facing him. He didn't bring out the present immediately, instead he built comfortable suspense by simply staring into her violet eyes.

Yoruichi watched as her old friend and new friend shared a moment together. Not even she knew what he had gotten her, as he said to her earlier that day _'I don't want to tell you...I want this to be great, not just shortwinded, but lasting...'_ She was a little disappointed that she wasn't trusted, but at the same time she was well aware that certain feelings can make everything life sized. It was plainly obvious to her -and everyone else watching- that the two were connecting; more than friends. She was sure Kisuke was in love with her, and she was sure the feelings were mutual for Ayame. The only thing that struck her was that Ayame had no idea what love was, as she only understood the concept of 'friends'. The poor girl was probably unsure about what Kisuke was to her. The feline woman quickly shook her head, she was losing focus on the two with her swirling thoughts, but she realized as soon as she looked that the two hadn't moved and were perfectly content. Because Ayame's back was facing her, she could only guess what her face looked like -probably adoration- but there was always a little chance she could be wrong. Another thing to consider would be the impending danger that everyone was feeling. She was well aware that everyone could feel it in the air, the feeling that something bad was going to happen, like sensing war. Perhaps it really would end up with war. As terrible as it sounds, Yoruichi made a decision that could possibly hurt both of them, but it could really help them in the long run. By that she means she wanted to keep them apart, as hard as it seemed. They were on the verge of being in love, but should anything happen to one of them, the other wouldn't be able to take the pain. For instance should Ayame be put in severe danger, Kisuke would dive into a suicide mission to save her without a second thought. While she was attached to Ayame in her own way, she would rather not lose him. Even if Ayame were saved, and he died, she wouldn't be able to handle it, just as he wouldn't survive without her. It would hurt Yoruichi to see the strain of two lovers not being able to love, but she would rather save them for the long run. As it stands, she would do her best to make them wait to fall in love, at least until this dark shadow passed. Ayame and Kisuke rising from their cushions pulled her from her melancholic thoughts. They must have gone through the gift-giving and waterworks without her even noticing.

It wrenched her heart to see how much they cared for eachother, yet she had to slow it down for a while. It was for the best. Yoruichi watched as Kisuke slowly turned Ayame so her back was facing him, the girl's face was so genuine and innocent that the feline almost changed her own mind. Kisuke held the ends of a silver chain in each of his hands in front of her. Dangling from the chain was a small silver heart, it was a thick and strong heart; one that surely represented both of their's. She could see his face; it was full of concentration and simple tenderness, especially now that the necklace made its way around her neck.

"...I-it's beautiful..." Ayame whispered faintly, with absolute gratitude. Kisuke in return stared at the back of her head briefly before he dove his arms down and around her, burying his face into the back of her neck. "...Kisuke..."

"Ayame..." He breathed, and for a long moment no one said anything. The people watching only breathed, and that was the extent of their movement. As for Ayame and Kisuke, they stayed perfectly still as if there were nothing around them. "Ayame?..." He whispered so only she could hear, earning him a silent response, "Can I tell you something?" She nodded,but he needed a second to compose himself, but that second never slowed him from telling her some honest truths. "You captivate me..."

"C-captivate-" She repeated, but he had more to say.

"You have no idea," he breathed in deeply, taking in as much of her as he could at once. His arms moved more securely around her, "it's like all the stars lift me up now that I've found you... I'm just so glad I found you."

"I...I-I'm so glad you found me..." She answered, tilting her head up to rest on his chest. He looked down at her purple eyes and her flushed cheeks. She looked tired, but at the same time she looked so vivid and alive.

Yoruichi watched them, much like everyone else was, with intrigue. People don't usually look at eachother like the pair in front of them were. It hurt her to see her friend so happy and falling in love when she knew she would have to slow their progress down. In fact she would like nothing more than to see the two fall in love, but the upcoming war would hurt them if something were to happen, and she would do anything to prevent that. But it was going to be so hard to not let their loose ends meet. Her eyes went wide as Kisuke leaned in and whispered something to only Ayame, which earned a nod from Ayame, and just like that they disappeared. Yoruichi jumped up, ready to chase, but she knew that they were long gone, he'd shunpoed (sp?). Though she herself was very fast with her own flash stepping, she knew that if Kisuke didn't want to be followed, it was best to not chase him. _Shit._

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Wow, that seemed short... Sorry if it was... I mean I counted it, over two grand, but...I dunno, seems short....

Well, hope you liked it :]

If not, sorry, I'll work on it :]

Things are gonna get cute soon....Because that's how my weekend went... Me:Happy=Story:Cute

I won grand champion in sparring versus a football playing black belt! :] Yeah! He had the title for three years! And I beat him! Go me! Wow lol sorry, still in shock...


	15. Chapter 15

WOW. Sorry, this took forever. I was woking on my Sky High one and realized that my time line wasn't matching up, so I had to fumble and rearrange that one. Ugh. So yeah, here it is, hope you like it! ...*checks email* I guess that's all I have to say :]

Oh...And this is my only story that hasn't gotten a flame...not that it doesn't deserve quite a few...But, I still feel pretty dang good...Is that a bad thing to think? Maybe it's because this one isn't spazzing like my others...That could very well be it... ONWARD

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Kisuke and Ayame finally stopped when they were at the street in front of his store. "Ayame," he started, holding her shoulders, "Stay here, I'm going to go get a few things and I'll be right back, okay?" She nodded and he smiled. Just before disappearing, he held her cheek for a brief instant, seeing that she would stay and wait for him.

Kisuke moved quickly, to avoid being detected by anyone, but just as he turned into Ayame's room, that was exactly what happened. It was Yoruichi, so he didn't think much of it when he saw her leaning against the closet door frame. He simply moved right past her to go into the closet. "Where're you going, Kisuke?"

"For a walk," he replied, flashing her a beaming smile before he turned and leafed through the jacket section.

She frowned, "it's a bit late, don't you think?"

He shook his head, "no, I think it's fine." Pulling out two jackets, he turned to Yoruichi, "which one?" When she didn't answer it was his turn to frown. "What?"

"Kisuke..."

He sighed, "I know what you're thinking. I know what I'm doing."

He chose the khaki jacket.

ooooooooooooooo

Ayame mirrored Kisuke's smile as he approached her outside. "Are you ready?" He asked, with only a faint trace of nervousness.

"Y-yes!" The blonde smiled at her enthusiasm and quickly held her hand to lead her down the street. "K-kisuke?"

He looked down at her, "yes?"

"Thank you... This was the most special day..."

Swinging their hands, Urahara pulled her across the street. "Do you know _why_ it was so special?" She didn't know. "Well, a very special girl was born, exactly on this day..."

They walked for only ten minutes until Urahara walked them off of the sidewalk and on to the grass. Before Ayame wasn't paying attention, but when she focused her eyes went wide. Her friend had lead her to the most beautiful pond she had ever seen. About a fourth of the way around the lake was a deck that was lit up by a bright light. As they got closer, Ayame saw that it wasn't just a bright light, but it was actually hundreds of light bulbs of all sizes and shapes. It was beautiful. Kisuke looked down at her and saw how her wide eyes reflected the lights, such an amazing sight was drawing him in more than the lip gloss was. He sure was surprised that the humans went so above and beyond to set this up in such a short amount of time. Originally he only asked for them to set up an picturesque site, one that he could take a friend or a lover to all the same, but this was more than he ever expected. He knew it was worth it especially by the way her eyes lit up at the site. It wasn't anything special, according to him, but he was glad she was enjoying it.

After leading her to the start of the deck and the edge of the water, he stopped, still holding her hand, and just stared. It was like a tunnel of lights, and they were more than happy to follow down it. The end of the deck reached out a good distance into the lake, but it was a comfortable silent walk to the end. "Kisuke....It's....Wow..." The end was lit up just as enchantingly as the rest of the deck, but there was a small bench for two that faced out into the black water.

Gently he pulled their clasped hands to his chest, effectively pulling her closer to his side, "...For you...Ayame..."

"F-for me?"

"Of course," this time he took her other hand as well so he could turn her so that she was fully facing him. Naturally she was more than happy to release both her hands to put them on his chest. It was all too easy to place his hands on her hips; they just fit there. "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" She looked up dreamily to him, "I _love _it..."

"You..." It wasn't long before the hands on her hips turned into arms around her waist. They melted together like wax of a candle; even the heat was there, and it wasn't from the lights. He couldn't take it any more, between her flawless complexion glowing in the lights, her bright eyes shining, and her rosy lips that didn't even need lipgloss to make them delectable, he was having a hard time concentrating on any thing but her. Not that he needed to. Finally he refused to hold back any more. He placed his hands right on her cheeks and pulled tilted her face up slowly. "Ayame... may I..." She didn't reply, instead she just looked up at him with doe eyes that gave him a fluttering in his heart. Her lips were so close to his that he could finally feel her breath on his lips. And soon, he would feel her _lips_ on his lips. He tilted his own head and leaned in slower than a feather.

Unfortunately, just as his lips were just about to reach her's, a ringing suddenly came from his pocket. Why did his phone have to ring at the most inconvenient of times? Despite his mental pleadings, the beeps kept coming, so he had to drag himself away. "Damn it..." He took a step back away from Ayame so he could rip his phone out of his pocket, of course it was the hollow detector. He flipped open the small phone and got the information on where the hollow was. Thirty miles away, it was far away enough to be safe, and far away enough that somebody, namely Ichigo or someone else, could go after it.

The moment was ruined, he realized, when he turned to see Ayame blushing and looking at the wooden planks of the deck. He smiled, she was so cute. "Come here, I want you to see this..." Once again he took hold of her hand, but this time he led her to the bench and sat her down. The bench was long and wide, so wide that Ayame couldn't bend her knees over the edge like Kisuke could. She was looking right at him as she relaxed and rested her head on his shoulder hesitantly. "Ayame..." He whispered softly, wrapping his right arm around her waist, "look..."

Floating on the lake were at least a hundred white spots that stood out nicely on the dark water, as they came closer Ayame realized they were radiant white birds. "Swans...." Never before had she seen them in the flesh and feather, she had only read about them in a few magazines lying around Urahara's shop. "T-they're so..._magical_...." The birds floated closer and closer, flustered yet amazed at the celestial light close to the middle of the lake.

For about an hour they simply watched the birds move around in pairs on the water, but Ayame was getting tired, as it was late at night when they even left the shop. He could tell she was exhausted by her long and exciting day when she started to droop further and further down his chest, but she was still awake, trying not to miss anything. Finally he took pity on her and slowly guided her down so her back was on the wide bench. She was vaguely perplexed, but she said nothing, only remaining eye contact with him.

Something in her eyes told him she wanted to be closer to him, like she was before, and he was more than happy to oblige. Because his hand was still on the small of her back, it was easy for him to maneuver himself so that he was laying on his side facing her. She layed her head on the muscle of his upper arm once she turned to face him. As she often did, she reached up to run her fingers down his soft blond hair and on to his jaw that was only slightly unshaven. Things were so silent, it was hard to imagine any place better to be, in fact, she was so comfortable she moved closer to him until they were chest to chest.

"Happy Birthday... My sweet sweet Ayame..." He murmured, holding her head as if she would shatter like glass.

Ayame looked up at Kisuke, who was gazing thoughtfully at her. "....A-arigato...Kisuke..." Through her shirt and her khaki jacket Ayame could clearly feel the light thumping through his shirt. His heart was beating slow, strong, and steady, just like Kisuke himself. The pad of muscle her head was resting on was hard and warm, something she never would have guessed. Usually Urahara hid his body with his loose green outfit, never showing any of the tough muscles underneath, but today she had gotten closer to him than ever, feeling him.

With him being in such close quarters with her, it was easy for Ayame to become intoxicated with his scent. The smell was so faint and delicious that she moved her nose to the crook of his neck, breathing in deeply. A few minutes passed, going just like that, before she started rubbing the tip of her nose across his sensitive skin. She ran her nose across his throat, applying light pressure, and it was driving him insane. Of course Ayame hadn't realized the effect she was having on him, not even when he started pulling her closer by her lower back. Once she was as close to him as she was going to get he could only stroke her back, and when that wasn't enough, he decided to be bold himself and took action.

It all happened so fast, Ayame never even saw it happening. With a smooth quality he got on top over her, resting enough of his weight on his elbows by her head that he wouldn't crush her, but she could still feel him on her. Instead of pushing him, like he half expected her to do, she latched on to his shirt, gently tugging. He wasn't the only one who smelled good to the opposite sex, she did too. Just as she had done to him, he took his nose and ran it all over her neck, occasionally brushing his lips as well. One of his hands found her hip and started rubbing up and down her side, including her bottom, while his other hand worked on her shoulder. Deftly his strong hands caressed her shoulder, gently easing her jacket off her skin. When the jacket was off her shoulder her worked on her tank top and bra strap so that he had a larger surface to work with.

Once he had a clear canvas, he ran a trail with his face from her throat to her shoulder. Slowly he pressed his lips and applied pressure to the spot between her clavicle and shoulder, kissing it like he had done to the back of her neck a few hours before.

Meanwhile Ayame held his head to her by his head, losing her fingers in his silky hair. Her own face was tucked into his neck, which was exposed due to his concentration on her own skin. They were both breathing heavy, even though there were only slightly intimate motions; they could be heard from twenty feet away. The hot steam leaving Kisuke's nose felt amazing on her skin that was damp from his little nibbles and kisses, it was both warm and cold, making it a sensational feeling she wasn't going to forget.

He wasn't the only one doing lewd actions however, she too, after minutes of deliberating, began to work magic with her lips and hands. Her breaths were also heavy as the sensations on her shoulder and in her heart pulled her mind to so many places. She was nervous and a little confused, but at the same time something in her felt sexy, confident, and even daring. However the timid part of her over took the rest, so she had to work slow in order to not give herself too high of a fever. She felt her own hot breath hit his skin and rebound back to her as she moved her lips closer and closer. Hesitantly she pressed her lips to his neck, but her intentions to go slow went out the door as she breathed in a heavy dose of his manly essence. (MeganNote: ROFL did I really just write that?) She felt drunk with passion, losing control, while she opened her mouth up ever so slightly to graze her teeth on his skin. From the way he squeezed her shoulder and hip she realized he must have enjoyed it, and that encouraged her to continue on but with more fire.

This time she held his hair completely off his neck so she could have a wider working space. Her teeth moved one last time on his skin before she finally touched her tongue to his neck, earning a shiver from him. That wasn't the best part though. In response to her intimacy, Kisuke upped his game by sucking on her skin harder than before. That alone caused a gasp/moan (MeganNote: couldn't decide :]) from her that pulled her head back from his neck.

Kisuke stopped his attention on her shoulder when he felt content that her skin would be thoroughly purple. These lewd thoughts ended when the coldness of the wind replaced the warmth of Ayame's mouth. When he looked at her he saw that her half-lidded eyes were staring at him with a look he couldn't describe. They stared at eachother for a while before he finally decided to close the distance between them.

But just before he could reach her mouth, something pushed the two of them off the bench. Urahara fell first on to the deck, but Ayame, who he didn't have a good grip on, went flying into the water. It happened so fast that the only thing he could do was stare in shock, but then realization hit him like a brick wall.

Ayame can't swim.

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To be completely honest, I have no idea where this is gonna go...Like I have the story line all mapped out, but I never really planned that last part....sooo SURPRISE... (for both of us)


	16. Chapter 16

Hey everyone, I know I haven't updated in a while,so I am posting now. It's short, but I really wanted to give you guys something, because you all are _so_ supportive! So thanks! And here you go!

**Recap:**

Ayame can't swim.

[[[[[[[[[[[

He dove into the water, hoping that his weight and inertia would make up for lost time. The water was always dark, so it didn't help that it was night time as well, but a stream of white caught his eye: her jacket! He pushed his arms faster in the water, but she seemed so out of reach. He was losing air, which means she was losing a _lot_ of air. Finally after what seemed like forever, he reached out and was able to grab her ankle to stop her from sinking any further. Though they weren't out of the deep water yet, Kisuke felt relieved that he had reached her at the very least. Once he got a hold on her, he pulled her up and held her tightly to his chest so that he could more easily swim up. Because of Urahara's strong body, the two quickly broke through the water's surface in a safe amount of time.

While he caught his breath quickly, Ayame had more of a struggle; she coughed and greedily sucked in as much of the sweet air as possible. The moment Kisuke opened his eyes in the muggy air, he immediately searched for danger. The bright lights lit up the entire deck, but the bright lights put everything surrounding it in complete blinding darkness. Whoever or whatever was gone, or at least shrouded in the darkness, so Kisuke could feel at ease enough so that he could safely help her back onto the deck.

The second she was on the deck, she immediately tipped over, heading to an unconscious state. Her blond friend, alarmed now, quickly got onto the deck himself and brought her shoulders up, in fear that she could still choke on drops of water left in her lungs. "Breathe Ayame," he murmured, now feeling relieved that she was opening her eyes and was no longer coughing. Urahara gave her a quick look-over, making sure that everything on her body was intact, and it was, except for her hair in her face. Picking up her sodden hair, which partially slid out of it's holder, he gently tugged on the tie so that he could fix it for her. Since he was kneeling in front of her, he stood up and lifted her by her under arms and placed her softly on the bench.

"Ayame, do you know what happened? It seemed like it came from right under you," he said finally after he sat himself next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. She didn't answer at first as she dove strait into her friend's chest, clutching his shirt in between her freezing fingers.

Ayame sobbed in his soaking shirt as she realized that yet again she inconvenienced her new friend. "...I-I'm _so_ s-s-s-sor-sorry...I'm sorry...I-I-I-"

Kisuke quickly quieted the girl by pressing his finger to her lips, "no no.... Shhh... It's not your fault." When she tried to argue, he stopped her before she could. "No Ayame... I'm not sure what happened, but I know you didn't do a thing. Is there anything you can tell me about it?"

Finally calm, Ayame looked up into Kisuke's eyes and nodded, "...i-it felt li-like... someone re-reached under me and p-pulled up..."

"So someone flipped us?"

With his sturdy voice, Ayame felt safe, as she often did around him. As she nodded, she snuggled closer into Kisuke's shoulder. His shirt was wet, much like her's, but unlike her, he was warm, depsite the light breeze. They both smelled like murky pond water, but it was still a moment to remember, as the dock was left untouched. The lights were still setting off that romantic glow and it was still just the two of them, thus the mood was still there and going strong. Ayame held his shirt with endearment because she felt somewhere deep inside him was someone with the strive to protect, and as she felt this she realized that maybe deep inside her was a good person too. Or maybe there was something inside of her just waiting to burst out. In fact it felt like there were many parts of her just waiting to jump out and make an entrance.

One part of her felt so wanted, something that she had felt before, but under different terms. Perhaps it was her father who had wanted her for some malicious reason. Or maybe some one else had wanted her before, during, or after that. She wanted to think that the people she's met over the last week were wanting her, but there was no way to tell. Regardless, this part of her felt yellow. It felt like sitting in sunshine during the summer. It felt like laying on a bed of wild flowers. And it felt like happiness.

Another part of her felt guilty. Every night, though they thought she was unaware, her friends had meetings every night, usually around midnight, discussing her. Urahara, Yoruichi, Renji, Ichigo, Rukia, _all_ of them; they met around the wooden table in front of her room. They always talked in hushed whispers, but she could distinctly hear her own name being discussed. They made it easy for her to feel the intensity of the room, without even being there. She knew that they were talking about her, and from what she's heard from Yoruichi, they are all worried. Ayame didn't want to make anyone worry. Desperately she hoped they would just stop searching for what ever it was they were trying to figure out. Ayame figured that her friends had no reason to worry, because it was a burden and she wasn't worth it. This feeling of guilt felt grey. It felt like a giant weight on her heart that was pulling her spine toward the ground. It felt like her own feelings were bending her over, shielding her shame from the world. And it felt like regret.

One part of her felt refreshed. While she had felt lost at first with Kisuke, now she was feeling as if she were understanding her place. All memories before she had met him were gone, but she was happy to make more memories. She would much rather have her new memories of Kisuke and friends rather than empty ones that may or may not have been good. Her new memories warmed her heart and filled her head in an almost dream-like manner. This part of her felt green. It felt like coming upon a very personal revelation. It felt like the vividness that covers everything after a rain storm. And it felt like comfort.

Another part of her felt evil. This was the part that made her scared. It was something that was slowly growing inside her, and no matter what good she tried to hold, the bad part was being nurtured by something. Not being sure if it was dangerous or not, Ayame wanted nothing to do with it. Somedays she felt as if it was trying to bust out of her, trying to cause trouble, but she worked all the time to hold it back. This was perhaps one of the stronger parts of her, and that worried her. It felt black. It felt like walking down a pitch black cave. It felt like her soul was being consumed. And it felt like darkness.

One part of her felt a foreign feeling that made her feel like a certain bond was forming with her new friend, and it was a feeling that she hadn't felt before, but was filling her to the brim. The only way to describe it was as deep affection, something that felt more than love for a new toy, something more like...just love. It was the type of love that made her chest thump, and it was a type that made her nervous. The fluttering in her stomach was surely different, but it was welcome. The first time she had felt it, she was a little scared, and she thought that maybe she was just feeling ill, so she took a nap to try to sleep it off. Now she knew that wasn't the case. While she wasn't sure _what _the case_ was_, she was sure that it was a feeling, and a strong one at that. She liked it. It felt fuchsia. It felt like a blanket literally wrapped around her heart. It felt like her soul was being consumed. And it felt like light.

0000000000

Hope you guys were okay with such a short and boring chapter! Sorry! Happy Thanksgiving guys! Eat lots of food!


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone! Hope this update is good! If not, Sorrzzz

Well, like I told my readers from my other stories, if you want something to happen, then you have to tell me, other wise I wont know. Thanks guys :]

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Ayame woke up to the sounds of birds chirping and the feel of the sun heating on her bare shoulders. The well-rested feeling she had was a nice change of pace from the usual. It made her restless thinking about how she was making everyone around her fret. When Ayame opened her eyes, she was only vaguely surprised that she was in her designated room, as she had last remembered being on the bench by the pond with Kisuke. She was alone on the bed, facing the window, where a blue bird was resting on the sill. "Blue bird," she called to the creature as she slowly slid out of her bed as if it were made of silk.

"Oh, blue bird," she repeated once more when she got to the window where she sat. She crossed her arms and rested her head as she watched the bird turn around to face her. "Life is sweet, tender and complete. I think when you find the blue bird of happiness, you will find perfect peace of mind..."

0000

Kisuke studied Yoruichi's face carefully as she grilled him. She asked where they went, what they did, and what "happened", and if anything _interesting_ happened. Though he knew her plan, he answered honestly; there wasn't anything for him to hide from her, others, maybe. He knew deep inside him that she trusted him, and was well confident of his abilities, but he also knew that she often worried about his mental well being. Yoruichi had been in love before; he knew she had loved fondly and was perhaps still in love. Yoruichi hadn't needed to tell him how deep her entire experience felt, as he just knew simply by hearing her speak about it. However, the fact of the matter was that she was attempting to halt his own love; that was plainly obvious. Though he did not fully understand _why_ she was doing it, he still knew that whatever it was, she was doing it for his own good. Not that it was okay to do so, though.

She stared back at him stone faced, but she wasn't able to hold back the faint sadness in her eyes. He could clearly see that she wasn't happy about continuing her plan, but she genuinely strived for his happiness. For that he was thankful. "Yoru-chan," he mewed softly, hoping to soften her with his nick name for her. He knew he wouldn't have to tell her how far they did -well, _didn't_- go, because as soon as Ayame woke up, the dark pink spots on her neck would be distinctly visible to all. "I... honestly don't know what it is you want me to tell you..."

The black cat seemed to curse under its breath.

That was all Kisuke needed to hear; it signaled that she didn't want to hear him say any more of the events of the previous night. Her silence always made him nervous, especially when she was in cat form. The cat jumped off the shelf that she was laying on and landed to the floor gracefully with a more than gentle thump. They had been in the main area of the store, so no one would hear their conversation, though it would only seem one-sided. She headed down the short distance to hall, slightly curling her tail to usher Kisuke to follow.

"Yoru-chan, I don't understand." He spoke honestly. He was always so used to knowing things so quickly, but he was feeling something that could not described in research; it had to be felt. Yoruichi always seemed to be able to fill in all the blanks when it came to everything. From everyday things to life-changing things. Unfortunately she was blocking her help from him this time.

Yoruichi stopped walking a few feet before Ayame's bed room, making her male companion stop as well. It wasn't that she didn't want him to be happy and in love, she just wanted to prevent possible future damage. The reason she was in her cat form because she was sure that if she had her feminine exterior, Kisuke would have an easier time not getting mad at her, his best friend. If it made a difference or not, she didn't care, but she was out to hurt him in the least way possible. Giving credit where it was due, she admonished that he never tried to explain himself, or apologize, because there was no need. Exactly as she feared, he was falling in love with the young girl, faster than she had hoped.

On that first day he brought her home, Yoruichi recognized the subtle change in his heart. Even he did not know at the time what was brewing inside him. It was always a special skill of her's, seeing the changes in people's hearts. Though he wasn't in love instantly -it became so over time- she saw that it was not a false assumption, but rather a reaction to the perfect soul.

Ayame was battered and beaten on the outside, but anyone could see that her soul was pure and innocent. It was that that caused Urahara's affectionate devotion to be felt. Yoruichi knew how he was starting to feel, and she didn't want to stop him from feeling it, not that she could, but it would break her heart to see him hurt if anything were to happen.

The urgency to help Ayame was felt by every one, but for their own reasons of course. Ichigo loved the sense of helping someone out and the justice that follows. Renji, though he would never admit it, was growing to be an older brother for her. Rukia familiarized with her, knowing her own past had similar, but not same, challenges. Tessia, Ururu, and Jinta all helped because they consider her part of the family they had developed together. Kisuke started out helping because he felt evil coming on, but he now fought for Ayame, and for all that she was.

Yoruichi felt vaguely guilty for her own reasons. She too, in the beginning, sensed the trouble coming and decided to act with Kisuke on it. Just like he did, she saw the love he was feeling for her, but unlike him, she saw the possible emotional danger.

Kisuke kept walking to stand in front of Ayame's open door, so Yoruichi slowly walked to sit beside him. Ayame was there, sitting by her window, talking to a bird. It seemed to be a childish act, but Ayame brought new life to it as she spoke, so it turned into the speak of a scholar.

"Oh blue bird, did you know that when you find the blue bird of happiness, much like yourself, two hearts that beat as one beneath a new found sun..." Ayame paused to sigh a lazy breath. "We are in a world that has just begun, but we must carry on, huh?"

Yoruichi looked up to her friend and saw, as she had expected, he was equally amazed -if not more- of Ayame's talking. He didn't look down at his feline friend as he gently spoke Ayame's name.

He simply walked into the room; Yoruichi didn't follow him, she only sat down by the now closed door and sighed. 'Kisuke,' she told herself, 'I worry so much about how far you'll fall if something happens.'

oooooooooo

Kisuke held Ayame's hand as he led her through the streets of the city, as he often did when they left the house. Ayame followed along peacefully, because he was walking slowly to match her short steps. "Ayame," he said just loud enough so that she could hear even though the city was noisy. "What would you like to do today?"

"O-oh, I don't kn-know, whatever y-you want to do..."

Kisuke turned and smiled at her, "surely there's _something_ you want to do." Ayame just shrugged and laughed. "Well, little girl, we'll just have to come up with a plan then, huh?" This time the girl nodded. She was well aware that the reason they left the shop was because Kisuke wanted to just get out, and she was more than happy to oblige. "I've got it!"

"Huh?"

Her tall friend stopped walking and turned Ayame by the shoulders so she was looking at him. "How about we go get brunch, then we'll go to the conservatory?"

"Conservatory?"

"Yeah! I have a pretty good feeling that you'll like it there."

Ayame idly played with her gift from Urahara, the necklace of course. "What's that?"

"Well, that's a secret, I guess you'll just have to wait and see."

"I guess I will!"

hphphphphph

After Ayame and Urahara walked out of the diner, he immediately went to the left and led her down the sidewalk. "Oh, Ayame," he said, "I really hope you'll like this, but I have a feeling you will."

Ayame shyly blushed, something he loved to see on her, "I-I will definitely like i-it!"

Kisuke nodded, "ah, we wont know until we get there though, huh?" All Ayame could do was nod, as she was so happy, but as he often did, he filled the silence with a smile. It may have seemed strange to those around the two, that they just grinned at eachother, seemingly having an entire conversation wordlessly, almost as if the entire world didn't exist around them. It was true, Ayame would smile, he would then smile, and so on. They needed no sound or actions to bond, though holding hands added a cherry on top of the deal. Time seemed to pass so quickly when they were together, they quickly noticed when the bright neon lights of 'Wind, Earth,& Water' appeared before them.

"Ayame," Kisuke welcomed warmly as he held the glass door open for her, "welcome to the tri-conservatory." He marveled at her mesmerized face which had blue, green, white, and yellow lights dancing across it. She was speechless, though her lips did part slightly in a most enticing way.

It was not crowded, not at all, which he was thankful for. Once he felt that Ayame had gotten over the initial surprise of the beauty, he lead her to the front desk, where a woman in blue was waiting. "Hello, welcome to the WEW," she greeted with a selling smile. "Would you like general admission or one of our personal tours?"

Kisuke looked frown at his young companion, only to see that he wouldn't get an answer, as she was staring off at the library to the left. He squeezed her hand lightly, pleased that she was already happy with the place. Turning back to the woman, he smiled, "I think we'll take our time going through on our own."

The woman nodded and glanced between the two, "alright, then here you go. Oh, and we have a new exhibit hall that I think you'll enjoy. If you go at six, it's usually completely void of people." Handing over a brochure, she opened it on the counter right to the map and pointed a pink nail at a long rectangle, "I really think you'll both enjoy this."

Kisuke understood, guessing that she didn't say this to everyone. "Thank you, really," he told her, earning a bright flash of pearly whites. "Ayame," he got her attention, "ready?"

The brunette looked up with excited violet eyes. "Y-yes!"

Still holding her hand, Kisuke led her down the first tunnel. The tunnel had a blue arch with teal and gold swirls on it with 'water' printed in fancy script. It was long and dark blue that was barely lit with scarce lights. At the end of the tunnel was a bright light, so Ayame wasn't scared at all, though it could have been due to her blond friend being there.

As they reached the end, they walked right into a large dome. Ayame stopped at the entrance in order to stare in pure amazement. The well-lit room was not a room at all, but a giant bubble that held up a giant aquarium. Above their very heads swam hundreds of sea creatures behind the glass dome. Save for a select few, Ayame couldn't recognize any of the swimming creatures. One large one caught her eye as it swam by, covering a large portion of the glass.

It was a beautiful and slow creature, but its size frightened her in a small way. She flinched ever so slightly when it sang out a long 'elllloooowwwooooo!' The sound resonated so loudly that she and everyone else in the the dome covered their ears to block some of the volume out. When the song stopped, Kisuke looked down at her, wondering what she was thinking. "That was a small whale, Ayame."

Her eyes went wide, "s-small? How big c-can they get?"

"_Huge_."

"Wow! There are s-so many things that I've n-never seen before... What are they all?" All of the new sights, bright colors, and vibrant colors made her heart beat dance, so much to a point that she could barely contain it.

The blonde laughed and grinned sheepishly, "well, I'm no biologist, but I know a few basics, like," he pointed to a gray thing swimming by, "that is a great white shark."

Just as Ayame looked at the shark, it did its most predatory action. It grabbed the nearest fish and tore it to shreds with one violent shake of its stiff head. Ayame and Kisuke both gaped at the sight. She did it because it was such a violent action, and he did because it totally ruined the mood in a matter of a few seconds. Thankfully for him, Ayame's attention turned to a spot with bundles of different colors. Kisuke led her across the dome to where the creatures gathered so she could get a better look. "What are th-those?"

Kisuke was also quite impressed with the thousands of multi-colored critters. "Those are star fish."

Ayame gasped and pointed through the glass at a yellow one, "l-look how big it is!" Kisuke pointed at a small green one for her so she could say, "look how tiny it is!" _The couple_ laughed together for a brief yet everlasting moment before a clink-thump sounded on the glass below them. Ayame had never noticed that the floor they were on was actually another aquarium. This one was filled exclusively with fish, except for the vegan creature below. Without moving from their spot in front of the star fish, they stared at the giant creature in amazement as it attached to the ceiling of its tank. From the looks of it, it was burnt orange and gigantic. Each of its tentacles were at least half a foot wide and four feet long. "What _is_ that?"

They were standing right on the underside of the beast, "That is an octopus."

"What does it have s-so m-many arms?" Ayame asked innocently.

Kisuke seemed to ponder for a moment before he flashed his arms around her, picked her up, and held her to his chest while saying, "all the better to grab you with, my dear!" Ayame let out a surprised yelp before she started giggling. Kisuke stared at her with a soft expression, and she stared back, which was easier for both of them now that they were at equal eye level. They were basking in the after glow of the moment as they rested their foreheads against eachother. A flash suddenly went off in front of them, tearing their gazes from eachother's eyes.

When they looked, they saw that the flash had come from a camera that was in the hands of one of the WEW staff members. "Sorry," he said, "my job is to capture touching slash romantic moments like that." The man pulled out the polaroid picture from the camera and waved it around, speeding up the development process. "Ah! Here you are," he exclaimed, handing Ayame the photo. "Turned out nice, enjoy the rest of your tour, folks!"

The photographer left them before they could get out a 'thank you.' While he was off taking a picture of a family by the whale, Ayame looked up at Urahara, who was still holding her. "Well, what does it look like?"

The brunette shimmied out of his grip and stepped back so she could look at it. After seeing the picture, Ayame grinned devilishly and held it to her chest. "I-t's a s-s-secret..."

"Hmm...." Kisuke tapped a finger on his lips before finally coming out with, "how about a compromise? A secret for a secret?" He didn't give her a chance; he went strait down to her ear and whispered....

00000000

Guess you'll just have to wait until the next chapter :/. Lol you can SO picture me sitting at my computer making weird sounds trying to figure out how to spell what a whale sounds like. It was pretty funnn...Oh, and the whole blue bird talk was based from a song called Blue Bird of Happiness by Edward Heyman. It's really a nice thing, so read it if you ever get the chance! It was very pretty :]


	18. Chapter 18

**OH CRAP. I knew I forgot something. I have been trying to work my butt off on a lot of things, and for a while I could have sworn I tied up all the loose ends...That is until I remembered this story! I'm sorry! Hope I still have you guys! If I do, thanks! Hopefully I'll be back into the swing of this one! *bow* Sorry!**

ococococ

...And whispered, "I like you." After Kisuke got that out, he straitened back up and looked at her expectantly. "Well?"

Ayame held a shocked expression on her face. "N-no w-w-way..."

Kisuke frowned on the inside, not sure if she was rejecting him or rejecting his compromise. Lose-lose either way. Kisuke's mindset and near optimism changed when Ayame mutter out something that she couldn't quite hear. "What was that?"

Ayame blushed and hid her face behind the photo, "...I-I said...I t-thi-think... I-I...you too...l-like-"

Seeing her struggles, he silenced her by placing his finger on her lips, her very very soft lips. "It's okay, tell me later..." Of course he wanted to hear what she wanted to say, right then and there, but he didn't want to force it out of her, and he certainly didn't want her to say it merely because he did. It was worth the wait to hear. "But the picture..."

"N-no!" She gasped, tucking it down her shirt, thinking quickly.

Kisuke only felt vaguely guilty thinking that he would honestly have no problem delving his hand in her shirt. Though, another part of him respected her so much that he wouldn't do anything until she wanted it. "Maybe later then," he smiled, "are you ready for the 'Earth Dome'?" Ayame grinned back and nodded. He took her hand in his and led her toward the viney green arch that led to another dark tunnel.

Squeezing his hand, Ayame looked up at her companion, namely his face. He probably knew she was staring, she figured, but he seemed too deep in though to care because he just looked forward with a placid look on his face. Taking the opportunity, she studied his features. They were soft, yet deliberate; beautiful, yet masculine. His jaw was angled and defined, and only slightly unshaven. The faint circles under his eyes were clear indicators of the stress he's been with. As always, his golden hair fell around his face like a halo. Without touching it, she could tell it would slip through her fingers like silk. His cheek bones were high, and lately have been rosier than they were when they first met. Finally, her eyes fell upon his lips, his gentle sweet lips. He was biting his bottom lip, something they both did when they were thinking. Along with his hair, she knew from experience just how soft they really were. When the corners of his mouth pulled up, she realized where she had stopped her examination at. Shaking her head, she refocused on his entire face. There was something about it that made her comfortable, but there was also something that suggested a sort of divinity, like an angel perhaps. '_Yes, 'angel' is appropriate...That's it...Angel...'_

As they entered the next dome, Ayame was once again stunned at the amazing sights before her. The first thing that caught her eye was the display that was now swamped with little children. The station was labeled with a banner that read _Amazing Bunny Life. _Kisuke, seeing where her attention was drawn, looked at the crowd and promptly pictured Ayame getting lost in the crowd of rambunctious children. "Why don't we go see the other animals until some of the crowd dies down?"

Thinking he said it because he didn't want to see, she shook her head, "w-we don't have t-to go-go see it..."

Of course Kisuke caught on to what she was thinking, he pulled her closer and said, "we can go, what I don't want to see is you getting trampled by kids... Plus, it will be much more fun if you don't have to wrestle someone for a spot, right?"

"Right," she answered, feeling stupid. "...S-so... What is that?" She asked, pointing to a large wrinkly animal that was shooting water out its long nose at the glass.

"That," he started as he lead her closer to the animal, "is an elephant."

Placing her hand on the glass, she grinned, "he seems very peaceful..."

"Hi is," Kisuke released her hand so he could put his arm around her shoulder, "you have that effect on things..."

"_You_ do," she corrected, leaning her head on the side of his chest. The next place the couple went was where the giraffe were munching on high trees. "They are so _tall_," she pointed out. "_Woah_, look at its tongue! What would an animal use that for! It's just so..."

Ayame stopped her talking immediately as Urahara's own tongue slid up the side of her cheek. "I can think of a few things..." he whispered, making her giggle. He smiled with her, but on the inside he felt guilty for making the advantage. She had no _idea_ how much could be taken from his lecherous actions toward her. He could hold her tight and kiss her, but there was the possibility that she might never fully grasp that it meant affection, or possibly something even more than that. Urahara felt masochistic in a sense that he still would do those things, because he felt that he wouldn't be able to stop himself if he tried. His entire being wanted to be near her; wanted to get closer to her. "If you think _that_ guy has a long tongue, then you'll have to see the lizards."

"Lizards?"

"Yeah," he told her, leading her to another part of the dome. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

She laughed and flashed him a smile. "We shall!" As they walked, Ayame stumbled a bit, so Urahara took the opportunity to slide his arm down her back to hold her waist. When that happened, Ayame assumed it was something customary to do, especially when a couple walked by with their arms around eachothers' waists. Hesitantly she brought her right arm up and slid it across the small of his back. At first she almost stopped when she felt him stiffen, but when she went on she felt him relax. He must have sensed that she was unsure about her actions, because with the hand he had on her hip, he stroked his thumb gently, which calmed her down. "Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed as they approached the new glass. "You're right! L-look at them!"

The multi-colored creatures whipped their long and curly tongues out like nobody's business. The natural delight pleased Ayame, which in turn pleased Urahara, who watched her, just as fascinated as she was with the lizards. The creatures moved around, sliding over eachother easily, but one in particular stood out to Ayame. It was green, not the bright green that some others did, but dark green instead. It moved slowly and steadily from the left side to the right side, its bulging eyes looking strait forward. His eyes, though fully capable, did not wander all over the place -he was completely focused on what -or who- he was heading for. Finally -Lizard made it to his destination; an exotic purple-striped yellow lizard. He watched her for a moment before mounting her, rolling his hips forward. "Oh dear." Kisuke mumbled quietly.

Ayame was confused, so she looked up to her dear friend, Kisuke, for answers. "W-what is he do-doing?"

The blond looked up as if the answer was on the ceiling; when he found that no word would come from it he looked back down. "_They_ are...Fornicat- I think the bunny station has cleared up!" Kisuke spun them around and made a bee-line for the previously crowded rabbit-pen. It was still pretty busy, but there was substantially less people. More than half had left to watch the _Great Grasshopper Race._ An employee with a forest-green WEW shirt was standing by the box, talking to a little boy about what bunnies eat and why they enjoy carrots so much. Another WEW staff was talking to a parent about the over population of the fuzzy things, and how the WEW has an adoption program going. As they got closer and closer to the bunny box, Ayame started to move faster as if she were a moth attracted to a bright light.

The pen had at least a dozen bunnies running around, and about half a dozen children as well. As soon as they got to the fence, a worker approached with a broad grin on her face. "Hi there! Welcome to our very own Rabbit Range!" At the sudden brightness of the employee, Ayame jumped behind Kisuke's arm, making the girl frown. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you... Um... Miss, would you like to hold one?"

At this, Ayame's head popped out to look at the worker from behind Kisuke's arm and eyed her cautiously. Kisuke _knew_ this was something she would _adore_ doing, so he took initiative and put his arm around her shoulders. This put her out in the open, but not alone. "Definitely," he answered for her. The woman, whose nametag read _Mai_, smiled and ran off to grab one of the adorable creatures. "Ayame-chan," Kisuke cooed, "don't be nervous, I've always got you."

Ayame nodded and rubbed her cheek on his chest, "t-thank you, Kisuke..."

Just before Mai came back, he snuck quick but soft kiss to Ayame's temple. "Hmm, I picked this one out just for you guys. This little one is Maxy, and it's very shy. Do you want to hold Maxy?"

With a timid nod, Ayame allowed her friend to nudge her forward, where she was presented with the soft white bunny. "Maxy..." Ayame stroked its soft ears, noting the purple tinted tips. "W-why are they s-so da-dark?"

Mai shrugged, "Maxy has a long birth mark along the lining of the ears, so that thin line of purple makes the white look violet. Pretty, huh?" Ayame nodded. "And this one just _loves_ a nice tummy rub."

Kisuke helped the petite girl next to him flip the white ball on its back for a try. They couldn't help but notice little yellow nubs that were just barely sticking out of the field of fur. "Why are these yellow?"

"Oh," Mai explained, "it's common for white bunnies to have yellow paws, it's just natural discoloration and dirt from hopping around."

Kisuke observed Ayame as she reveled at the furball. The way she moved and the way she talked and touched it, all of it just warmed his very being. If only he could find a way to just pocket it away and pull it out to see whenever he pleased. He had to find some way to keep the moment continuously. With that, he leaned forward to whisper something in Mai's ear while Ayame was distracted. Whatever he said made Mai look between the two and smile knowingly. "I can do that!"

"Arigato."

ooooooo

Ayame and Kisuke headed to the monkey section, which also had a jungle gym for the children. Naturally, Ayame was fascinated, thrilled by both the children and the hairy mammals. "Monkeys," he explained.

"Th-they _swing_ and..._dance_ and...wrest-"

Kisuke's eyes went wide. He turned Ayame and himself away from the vulgar fornication, though he couldn't help but think things that he would later feel guilty about. They were mammals, male and female, just like them. What they were doing was only natural, but he felt that if Ayame saw it, her innocence would somehow be tainted.

"Kisuke?" Ayame gently brought her eyes up to meet his with a soft expression. Before either of them could say anything, a brassy jazz sound came from one of Kisuke's pocket. It was Yoruichi, and he was _quite_ tempted to ignore it. Today was a day when he refused to tolerate disruptions from anyone. If emergencies were not such a reoccurring thing, he would just shut his phone off. Though Yoruichi frowned on their coming of union, she wouldn't just try to interrupt for just anything. Ayame tugged at his sleeve. "G-go on, take it," she smiled, "I'll-I'll be on that sw-swing set over there, okay?"

"Ayam-"

"R-really, I'll be o-okay!" She walked off.

Kisuke groaned and pulled his phone out as if it really was the devil incarnated. "Yes?" It took all he had not to say it though clenched teeth or with with venom. "What's going on?"

_Yoruichi sighed, "please tell me you're playing __**safely**__."_Kisuke rolled his eyes.

_"Don't roll your eyes at me," she snapped, hoping to make him wonder if she could see him or not. It was a good thing in her eyes, the more he thought she could see, the less he would do. "We have company."_Ice suddenly took over his body. "Good or bad company?"

_"Wellllll," she started, "I'm not sure, I'm thinking it could go either way. We don't know why they're here."_"Who is it?"

_"Squad ten."_

**Damn**, Kisuke cursed in his head. "Have you questioned their motives?"

_Snorting, Yoruichi glared at the phone, "of course I have! Toushiro wouldn't tell me anything, 'privileged information for people who are actually __**part**__ of the Soul Society,' he said. I don't see where he gets off trying to pull that line, I should have grounded him or something... little pain in the ass..." she trailed off. "I did ask Matsumoto, but her freakin' captain came in and yelled at her for attempting to tell me. That sounded bad, but the fact that they didn't go strait to business tells me otherwise... Are you still even listening?_"

Of course he wasn't, his attention was long gone for the most part, as he was watching his favorite girl idly swinging back and forth amongst the children. She looked adorable with her little shorts and her cute little bows. Such pretty hair too...Technically he was half listening, which apparently was good enough for him -not so much for Yoruichi. "You can handle this, right?"

_"Well, yes, but-"_"Great, thanks! Bye!"

_"Wai-"_

Since everything was settled, he scurried back to his sweet friend, who was sitting with her back to him. He could just hug her, and he _would_, then he _did_. His arms wrapped right around her shoulders, surprising her. "K-kisuke!" The man grinned down at her as she tilted her head back so she could return the smile. Just looking at her made his entire being more than happy to exist, and not just exist, but be with her. The infatuation with her drew him to beatitude, a happy heaven at which he was willing to stay in. Just when he made up his mind to kiss her, a flash from the side stopped and shocked them. When they looked over, they saw a girl no bigger than Ayame in a green polo shirt with a camera.

"Oh shoot!" She cursed, "I keep forgetting that I need to ask people first! I'm not weird," she told them, "I promise I'm not, I work here! I'm just new and-"

Kisuke laughed, "it's okay, did you get your shot?"

The girl looked through her lense, "yes, I did! Looks great! It'll come out in a second... Darn, I should have waited for you to kiss!"

" 'K-kiss'?" Ayame stuttered nervously with embarrassment.

"...But if I did wait," the staff went on, "_then_ I would have looked creepy, just _watching_ you- Oh gosh! _That_ was creeperish!" The girl bowed frantically, "I'm sorry!I just- Oh! Picture's done!" She then ripped the picture from her camera and scampered off to find another 'touching moment.'

Kisuke had gotten to the picture first, making Ayame pout cutely, "sorry Sweetie, no can do! Not until I get to see the last one!"

Ayame clutched her chest protectively, "n-no way K-kisuke-koi-Kun... Kisuke-_k-kun_!"

The chibi-Kisuke in his head did a little victory dance every time she made that mistake. It made him feel penitent whenever he did this, assuming the most sentimental ideas about her smallest actions. If it was just his mind working illusions on him or if he was correct in guessing her feelings, he wasn't sure, but he appreciated each moment anyway. At the look she was giving him, he almost gave in and gave her the picture, but he stopped himself. "Then no picture for you, Ayame-chan," he said.

He wasn't sure what exact second he gave in within the next minute, but he was sure it was because of her lovely expression and her sweet voice saying, _please, Kisuke..._ With that, she had the picture in her hands instantly.

ooo

**Well? Was it okay? Quick question for any readers still left, is Maxy a boy or girl? It's up to you!**


	19. Chapter 19

Hello dearies! What has it been, almost five months! Eesh... Sorry!

Dear Hioni, it has been an absolute pleasure reading your reviews! Hahaha, I've got a couple comments on them :) 1) I Love love love sweet tea! 2) And I was thinking the same thing (Highschool girls! High school girls! Highschool girls!) and it made me laugh when you thought the same! 3) I was wondering if anyone actually read the disclaimers, and I was waiting for some one to notice! You're the first! Hahaha! 4) I was a little startled at your love of the 11th division... But I guess that works out! 5) Yes, I _am_ fluent in whale. Thanks Dear!

ooo

The Sky dome was bustling with activity from the entrance to the very back corners. Birds of all colors took flight overhead, thousands of them, all swirling in a natural current. "Wow," Ayame whispered. She wasn't sure what exactly she was enjoying, when she stared at the birds there was also a certain blond's face up there as well. She blushed and looked away when she was caught staring, but she couldn't look away for long. Kisuke held her gaze -and her hand- and smiled in his usual passive expression. Though the look was familiar, Ayame felt there was something new to it, something that made her chest swell. It felt like there was water in her chest, it wasn't a drowning sensation -though she wouldn't mind drowning in it- it was more like warm honey. Soothing.

Putting a hand on her chest, she smiled, hoping to catch some of the luxurious heat so she could pocket it and save it forever. She bit her lip as her eyes lit up like she had a treasure all to her own. Maybe she did, a day with Kisuke was more than enough to last her for eternity. She didn't know much of the world, but she knew that someone couldn't have an eternity. That being known, she was content with the _now_; the moment with _Kisuke_. The feeling wasn't new, it had been slowly growing, but now she felt like she was going to burst soon. Like a cup balancing on a ball, a little more would send her spilling into a ocean of joy. She was willing to fall.

The unknown feeling was prominent as Kisuke squeezed her hand, asking her in a gentle whisper, "where to, Ayame-chan?"

She blushed and crossed her words, "w-where do _y-you_ want to go?... Where you want to g-go i-is... perfect..." She was completely honest with him, always. It wouldn't feel right not telling him exactly what she was feeling. But in the back of her mind something told her that it wasn't right to just blurt out such feelings. Especially if she didn't quite know what those feelings were.

"Anywhere with you is perfect," he told her. He was looking right at her when he said it, but after he ran his hand through his hair and looked away. The brief second of happiness had fleeted. She wondered what she had said, or if maybe he regretted what _he_ had said. Either way... He must have noticed her discomfort, as he turned and held her shoulders with a reassuring gaze. "_Anywhere_, don't doubt that... There's just-" He paused and led Ayame to the nearest bench. Kneeling in front of her, Kisuke didn't appear vulnerable but instead _noble_. It was hard to look at him with the conflicting feelings swirling inside her, but she stared in to his soft eyes any way. He seemed troubled. "I'm sorry Ayame, I've just been..."

Ayame thought back to the talk she had with Kurosaki a few days back, how Kisuke was stressed about things around her. She saw the stress in him, she saw the shadows under his eyes, she saw all of it. It was selfish not to notice. It had to stop, for his sake. Her past was something she could live without if it meant saving him some trouble. "... No...I... I know... P-please don't trouble yourself..."

"Ay-"

She placed her hands on his cheeks and hoped that some of the warmth in her chest would transfer to him. "Please..." Running her finger tips over the purple lines under his eyes, she felt the dark guilt wash over her. She hugged him.

"Ayame -chan," Kisuke murmured as he placed an endearing and lingering kiss against her forehead. "Come," he told her standing up, "let's continue, let's... Seize the day!"

Ayame jumped up with a grin and accepted his outstretched hand. "Y-yes!"

ooooo

The couple bounced between displays, marvelling among the beautiful animals of flight. Tiredly the birds that had been flying above them slowed down until they were resting on any landing they could find. Ayame watched a frabjous owl from behind the glass of the dome. The WEW had done a fabulous job of recreating the darkness of night for the owl. Ayame leaned her head on Kisuke's shoulder as she observed the owl that was peering right back at her. Its giant round eyes stared back at her with a certain curiosity that matched her's.

A calm melody began to play above their heads, but only Kisuke noticed, as Ayame was lost in her intense staring contest with the wise bird. The song was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place what song it was. It was a human song that was played as often as there was a speaker around. This was a different version though, the pop music was replaced by a piano and the words were gone. This version was better. The lyrics, were they still in place, would be about how loving and needing someone should not be a weakness, but more like an understanding they're the only person they need to live. Familiar.

As much as he hated pulling Ayame from her fascination, this was an opportunity not need be missed. Grabbing her hand, Kisuke pulled her in to his chest by her hand. There weren't many people around, but there was a light flow of people. Kisuke didn't care. He brought his left hand to her hip and held her hand up with his right, instinct must have told his partner what to do, as she placed her fingers on his left trapezius muscle with affection. They were already close, but they soon found their bodies even closer. It was an intimate motion, but not so far as to push sexuality into it. Ayame rested her head on his chest with a contented sigh as they swayed to the music. Urahara's hand on her lower back was febrile, and she was unquestionably feeling it. It radiated up her spine where it met the heated pulses coming from her hand. Not only were his hands affecting her, but his entire body blazed with fiery red passion. She felt it, and she hoped that he wasn't feeling any cold from her. "Kisuke..." Just as she looked up, he looked down, catching her eyes. He smiled, she smiled- it was perfect.

Maybe it was the heat emitting from them that startled the birds around them, but something did. The birds flew into the air like a cyclone of wings, and they were the eye of the storm. The first ring around them were doves -the purist of white- flying around like a snow drift. Behind them was every other bird, a magnificent rainbow of colors, all swirling in a delightful whirlwind. Ayame laughed as they rose to the top of the dome and dispersed.

Once all the birds had resumed their flying, a boy in a blue WEW polo shirt came up to them waving a small polaroid like he was the greatest photographer to ever walk the Earth. _That could quite be the case_, Ayame thought once the photo was in her hand. The photographer had been about to give it to Urahara, but Ayame had gently placed her hand on his forearm. She didn't even have time to ask for it, as he was instantly staring in her eyes. He had given it to her as if she had begged him for it.

The boy had totally been willing to give it to Kisuke, but one look at Ayame had changed his mind. _Where is the justice in that?_ Kisuke wondered with a pout. "Ayame-chan," he said slowly once they had their privacy again, "am I allowed to see this one?"

Ayame giggled and turned her back to him, enjoying his childish frown. "Nope! _I've_ got plans for this one..."

"And what about the other two you managed to get?"

"I've got plans for those too..."

"Oh really..." Placing his hands on her hips tenderly he turned her hoping that she'd give some information away with her eyes. He flinched. Her eyes flashed a familiar color of honey, then, just as quickly as it came, was replaced with the lavender he was used to seeing. "And what do those plans consist of?"

Her eyes flashed again, but it was so brief he considered it to be his own hallucination. "I c-can't tell you..."

Mentally Urahara cursed. Her speech was directly affected by her mental state. He knew it. When he had first met her, her speech was fine, as she was in shock and wonderment. As she slowly became herself, she had begun to stutter out of nervousness of not being polite. When she was alone with him, and things began to get intimate, she especially got worse... like she was _shy_. However, when she was truly comfortable he heard the eloquence with clarity. Her state of mind was sensitive, even the slightest motion would alter it at an instant; which appeared to be the case. Something he -or someone else- did or said something to cause her to slide back in to the subtle discomfort... And her stuttering.

"Please tell me? My dear Ayame-chan," he cooed gently, hoping for some hints. Hints that she wasn't going to give up, even though he knew she desperately wanted to tell him. He knew that she was completely honest with her feelings -always. For a moment, he realized that he wasn't completely honest with _her_ about his feelings -hiding them so- but he realized that he was doing his best to _show_ his affection. Maybe one day it could be reflected back... The sun is always faithful to its light.

8888888888

When the Sky dome had been fully seen and enjoyed, Kisuke continued down the next tunnel, Ayame loyally by his side. The lane forked, left to the next dome and right to the exit. Ayame glanced up at him as he blatantly ignored the exit, but trusted him leaving no time for worry. He entered the next room first, not knowing what to expect, after all, the worker had only said that it was a 'special' room. When he pushed through the double wide doors, he wasn't sure if he should have been shocked or appalled. Maybe even _pleased_ for that matter. The whole room was decorated in fine silks of maroon and other various shades. Curtains hung from the wall, adding to the... _romantic_ feel to the room, especially in the dimmed lighting. That was the first thing the blonde noticed, the second being the specific pairings of animals. In groups of two, coupled animals rested with eachother in their clear oases. It was a tad bit warm in the room, but the ex-shinigami thought it was because of the animals. Almost. One would have to be completely oblivious to not notice the atmosphere... Ayame turned out to be that exact one.

Sure enough, she breezed right in behind him like a feather, and so forth ignored the _subtle_ love hints. That was one of the reasons Kisuke knew she was something special. Very special.

The swans caught their attention, so that's where they went. The lovely birds were the epitome of love as they intertwined their long and slender necks. They slept with eachother, cozy and in love. One of the birds popped one eye open and watched his partner before lifting his head and pecking a billed kiss on her head. Kisuke followed suit by kissing Ayame's, it would never get old.

Two pandas were next. Their flabby bodies rolled and fell in playful battle, but when they were spent, the bigger one sat behind the smaller one and engulfed her in his large black arms. Kisuke did the same, but he made sure to bury his face in the crook of her neck so he could steal a quick kiss.

A tank of water followed. Kisuke gave credit to the WEW; they were very thorough. Immediately behind the glass was an agdoad of sea horses, of blues, yellows, greens, and purples. As the couple got a closer look, the creatures immediately separated into couples as if their spouses would be stolen away. Adorable. Behind them, two dolphins weaved in and out of crevices and jumped over obstacles. They were perfectly in sync, the dolphins were, as they created a slippery arch over the humans' heads. Ayame turned to Kisuke and clasped their free hands together and watched above as the dolphins made loops around them.

Moving forward, Ayame found the most meaningful display she had seen all day. Though, it had competition. This one spoke to her and really hit her heart strings. Two penguins leaned against eachother in the the false arctic display. They were snuggling and happy, just like the pure white wolves right beside them in the same case. The wolves, by nature should have been on the attack with the penguins, but both were too absorbed in love. The penguins only saw eachother, forgetting their fear, and the wolves only saw eachother forgetting their hunger.

Kisuke was sure that the exhibit was the most magical place that Ayame had ever seen. He himself wasn't much of a believer of magic, but the way her eyes lit up made him think it was possible. Or maybe magic is actually the little things in life, _that_ he could believe in. His eyes lit up every day when he saw her, so it must be true.

He and his...What was she to him? Certainly not a girlfriend... Such trivial titles like that didn't exist in his world... Loves, fiances, lovers, husbands and wives..._they_ were common, but not quite right. For a moment, Kisuke was disappointed that there was no way to place what they had, but the inner optimist in him saw it in a new light. What he and Ayame had was special, so special that mere words couldn't describe it. _That_ was something worth having. In front of Kisuke and his special girl, was a giant board painted with an array of beautiful and natural colors. From sepia to cyan, from chartreuse to magenta, from gold to violet, the colors blended together in disorderly order. The wall shimmered with an almost unnatural shine as it seemed to gently move. Motions so subtle that they were barely perceived from the twenty feet away it was. Kisuke and Ayame's clasped hands seemed to move them forward toward the spectacle, and for a good reason. The flat wall turned to not be an ocean of colors, but an ocean of the most magnificent butterflies, all collected on a clear sanctum.

Ayame thought about the beauty of it all, and familiarized herself with it. All the sights and sounds she was seeing at the conservatory was strange and new, but the underlying pulchritudinous of it all was something she could feel with every breath she spent with Kisuke. Everything physical she experienced was growing to be something more than what they were. Instead of feeling Kisuke's hand in her's, she felt the growing graces of enticement. Instead of the wall in front of them, she saw a rare instance of purity. And instead of seeing Kisuke's admiring face toward the butterflies, she felt an indescribable force beckoning her toward him. The feeling itself was alluring and unnatural, but it wasn't a crippling discomfort. It was more of an urge to move, to dance and sing, to touch and feel intimacy. She reached her free hand up toward Kisuke's shoulder, now facing him with a calm intensity.

When a perky voice from behind interrupted her actions, Ayame didn't even flinch, though every fibre in her body wanted to scream out. _It was a sudden lapse of control_, but she couldn't think more of it once Kisuke put his own free hand over her's.

The voice came from another WEW worker. Ayame didn't show it, but something inside her was turning black with annoyance at all the disturbances the happy employees kept delivering. The feeling was unfamiliar and unnerving, she didn't know what it was, but she knew she didn't like it. Though it was ephemeral, the very memory of it served an unwelcome settling in her stomach.

Kisuke squeezed her hand, bringing her back to the place where she wanted to be. As fast as the black had come and gone, pastels came in its void, offering a comfort. "Ayame-chan?" She shook her head, enjoying the brief dizzy feeling. "Would you like to go in with the butterflies?" Her eyes went wide as she found herself nodding. "Then so we shall."

The worker swung the clear door open as she told them not to touch the wings, the speech brought Kisuke immediately to Ayame. The creatures, whimsical and innocent by nature were in such danger around even the most tender hands. The most beautiful and tempting parts were the ones that would be the death of them. If someone broke temptation and touched the wings, the butterfly would suffer. If _he_ broke temptation and touched Ayame's frailty, _she _would suffer. The beauty was not only physical, but the want to destroy it -not purposely- was evident. He realized this as his girl left his side and approached the wall that had seemed so unreachable from the outside.

Scattered butterflies flew around them carelessly and a few stopped right in front of Ayame. Not bothering to resist the urge to hug her from behind, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She was warm, like he was holding sunlight incarnated. Her arms reached up and touched his; she didn't pull them away, but instead pulled his arms to her, trapping him. A slow melody began to play distantly, filtered by the glass walls of the butterfly cage. Like a bell, a giggle sweetly fell from Ayame. The sound alone made Kisuke picture her lips; he had to see them. His arms felt heavy as he turned her by her shoulders, not letting contact between them break.

A smile cracked on Kisuke's own lips as he saw her face. A blue and black butterfly had landed on her nose and was currently waving and flashing his wings. The flapping must have directed more to come, as within seconds there were at least seven butterflies consuming half of her face. They covered her eyes like an elaborate mask, revealing only her lips. Try as he may to hold back, like a sand-castle in the rain his resolve crumbled. He lowered his blond head and captured her mouth. She gasped, but returned the kiss just as quickly. Like smoldering ashes, their lips melted against eachother, sticking as honey often did. Relaxing in his hold, she enjoyed the feel of his hard muscular body pressing against the softness of hers. As the pressure between them increased, she felt the butterflies leave her eyes and soft touches of wings grazed her arms and cheeks. His kiss was tender at first, but when she made no attempt to pull away, it grew stronger, and he parted her lips with his tongue, mating hers with his: hot, soft, moist, and tasting faintly of honey and another flavor, uniquely his own. Their mouths became a stadium of longing: lips wet, engorged, ravaging tongues sensually entwined in a slow dance of desire. Colors sparked and danced in her, swirling in a dizzying current. Pinks, blues, purples, whites, yellows, _greens_. He dragged his lips away and ran them over her face, tracing the high cheekbones and nuzzling her ear, his breathing far from steady. "Ayame-koi...Ai..."

Ayame nodded clutched at his top garment and melted as he continued to hold her intimately. "Kisuke-koi...Ai..."

Before any more could be said, yet another disturbance came in the form of four starry-eyed WEW workers. The girl in the middle with a camera wiped an imaginary tear from her eye, "that was _so_ _beautiful_!"

Another girl stepped forward, picture in hand. She too had a face of a love-struck admirer, not for Kisuke, but for Kisuke _and Ayame_. "T-the picture..."

Ayame's eyes went wide as the fear of the sudden attention fell on her like a brick. Her breathing only settled until she was in the safety of Kisuke's shadow. Though she couldn't see from behind him, she knew it was imminent that he was going to win this round of photos, and no amount of begging would suffice to get them. Kisuke retrieved the picture and immediately pocketed it without even glancing at it. The best day ever has yet to end.

ooooo

Well, that was it, sorry it's been a while. Working on what will work for me I guess... BTW! If you haven't already heard of them, listen to L'Arc~en~Ciel! If you like asian music that is. I was gonna say Japanese music, but I'm not sure and I don't want to be wrong and have one of you come after me with guns for it...One of my favorites is Stay Away :) Explore my children! By the way, the Mall of Asia is a TOTAL win.


	20. Chapter 20

So, I think it's safe to assume I lost the few readers I did have -_-, but I totally get it,I'm a horrible updater! But I'm on a streak right now, so I hope to get more done... Starting school in a few weeks, so I'll try to suck as much out of me for this while I can with what time I do have. I'm sorry for not updating, if there's anyone reading this still, I wont make excuses, but I am determined to finish this story!I'm trying out flash backs for -I think- the first time. Honestly, in all my writing (I do a lot, believe it or not) I don't think I've ever done one, so I hope it makes some sense. If not, I'll try again.

oooooo

Ayame clutched on to Kisuke's hand as they were walking the streets of Kurakura town. It was just starting to get dark now, so the sky was turning into a beautiful blend of stunning oranges, magnificent yellows, enchanting pinks, captivating purples, and startling blues. All the people around her couldn't be quite as happy as she was, she decided. _Happy_ was an understatement. Her heart fluttered like the butterflies that had adorned her face earlier. It was a strong feeling, but it made her feel lighter than air, leaving Kisuke to ground her by her hand. She liked the feeling.

It was when the sunset's light hit the water just perfectly that Ayame and Kisuke crossed the bridge on their way home. It would have been a crime toward passion _not_ to stop and lay their eyes on the beauty of reflections. She moved away from Kisuke toward the side of the bridge, with him trailing by the hand. There, she rested her own hands on the flat and cold stone of the short wall. Intimately close behind her, Kisuke covered her hands with his. Trying to ignore all thoughts, she allowed herself to sink back into his chest, hoping with all her power that she just might melt right into his soul. As she craned her neck back on his shoulder to look at him, she saw her dreamy gaze was met by his. Between his genial smile and the radiating heat of his arms, there was no place she'd rather be; with the one who inspirited her. Kisuke lowered his head to kiss her forehead. As he lingered, Ayame closed her eyes and savored the caress as if it were the first and last she would ever receive. If it was to be the last, she hoped for a swift deafening to follow.

Inside, she felt the impending doom nearing every second of every day, and it swelled up in her chest when she thought about it. She had heard the late night whispers of worry and saw the effect she was having on everyone. Especially Kisuke, but maybe she was just watching him more. Day after day of this it wore her down, making her loathe everything that she knew she was. She was a sullen girl by each nightfall. The only way to help was to remember something -anything- but she couldn't even do that for them. If only she knew something of herself or even something of the world; then Kisuke and the others wouldn't have to try as they did. They all said they didn't mind, but they didn't see the wear and tear it was doing to them. She wanted to tell the to quit, to give up this chase for her past. She didn't care about it anymore, as there were now more important things. Like Urahara Kisuke. Ayame wanted to fix it,but would halting the search sever the bonds she had grown with them? Leave them with no reason to keep her around? The very thought of not seeing them was enough to give her night terrors.

It was selfish -she knew it- but she would rather protect them and yield her lonelieness than have them sacrifice themselves for her sake. "Kisuke-kun, I... I don't care about my- my past. Please, put an e- end this search..." Ayame turned to face him in his arms. He carefully watched her eyes, so she hoped he couldn't see her sadness. Bringing up her hand to trace the underlines of her eye circles with her fingertips, she begged one last time. "Please, _please_, Kisuke."

His thought process differed from her's. "Will you still stay?" Part of him knew her reasons, but he would catch stars for her, so if she wanted to forget her history, then she would. He asked her again as he rested both hands on the sides of her face, "will you... Still have a reason to stay?"

Ayame choked back tears of immense love and stared back at him. "I-I'm looking at my reason..."

"""""""""""""

Yoruichi could have killed him. Urahara was off doing who knows what, knowingly leaving her to deal with the issue of having the child captain of the Soul Society up her ass. He was trying her patience, that little one was. He and his trusted fuku-taicho were stalking around Kisuke's store as if they were just waiting for the occupants inside to do something wrong. However, she had to wonder if someone _was_.

A flash of red hair passing the window told Yoruichi that Matsumoto was near by. Tired of their unyielding odd behavior, she flew her hand out the window to grab the poor vice-captain by the ankle with which she dragged her inside. Leaving her smooth catlike calm, Yoruichi threw the other woman into a chair and cursed out an interrogation. "Tell me, Matsumoto. _Why_ are you here? What is your purpose for being here?"

Matsumoto shrugged defiantly, not liking at _all_ the violent treatment she was receiving from a fellow large chested woman. "I don't know! You know that!" Going on as she adjusted her top, she finally drawled out in a lazy exasperation, " 'Shiro doesn't know either. We were sent here to investigate. Investigate _what_- we have no idea."

Sensing her honesty, the feline had no choice but to let her go. She bashed her hands to her head and growled in frustration. It was making her more and more uncomfortable with the Soul Society's increasing interest in whatever they were doing. Confident as she was that they would have no reason, part of her knew it couldn't be a good sign. First squad eleven, and now ten?

If the Soul Society was going to flash it's numbers in reverse order, she hoped team nine wouldn't be next. Tousen Kaname-Taicho had a twisted sense of justice that definitely would not play in their favor.

Any extra squad was unlikely, but nothing seemed to be following a normal pace lately. Any extra squad would only cause increasing suspicion and danger. Danger that they were all facing with little understanding of what and why.

xxxxxxx

As Urahara and Ayame approached his shop, he hadn't noticed anything peculiar -as his focus was elsewhere- until Ayame gasped. She released his hand to run forward a bit for a better look. "K-kisuke! There's a little boy on the r- roof! We- we've got to help him!"

Kisuke knew exactly who she was referring to. Though he knew the 'boy' was in no danger, he humored her and ran along side with her for her attempt at rescue. They got closer to the shop, and Urahara realized that he would need to think of a pretty good way to explain why the captain was on the roof. And why the captain was dressed like Ichigo and the other shinigami she had been exposed to.

To his luck, Hitsugaya-Taicho of the tenth division had disappeared out of sight just as they were appearing on site. He hated to do it, but he had no choice but allow Ayame to think she had been seeing things. Leading her inside after her big day, he suggested she take a nap, which she gratefully accepted.

Before entering her room, Ayame paused at the door way to look at her companion. Holding the pictures of the day gingerly to her chest, she bit her bottom lip and cast an affectionate smile his way. "T-thank you, Kisuke-kun, for today... It was so... sp- special for me."

Kisuke pulled her in close to his chest for an endearing hug in which neither of them moved for moments long. Voice rumbling deeply in his chest, he told her, "thank _you,_ Ayame, for accompanying me. You've done so much for me that you don't even know." He released an arm only to bring his hand up to her chin, where he lifted her face toward his. Bending low, he stole a quick peck on her cheek to which she blushed fiercely. His celedon eyes searched her violet eyes for permission to steal another kiss, but he didn't need to. With a quick burst of borrowed confidence, Ayame leaned on the tips of her toes to meet lips to lips. She didn't pull back quickly and he didn't feel anyone around, so he allowed his other hand to capture the other side of her face. Ayame moved back, pulling him with her, until her back was flush against the wall-papered wall behind her.

Kisuke wouldn't push her, as he did in the romantic dome of the WEW, so he pulled away against the rest of his heart's desires and smiled calmly at her. His heart was hardly calm at all though. With a quick glance to his left, he saw a furious feline with crossed arms waiting at the end of the hall. "Go sleep Ayame," he told his love. "I'll see you in a little while, okay?" She nodded with a starry look in her eyes, and went into her room.

Yoruichi waited until they were in the privacy of the meeting room to finally discuss the problems she'd been facing. They had no new information, and the information they did have were just random facts that seemed to be in no way connected. And now they had to deal with the Soul Society watching their every move. They were not even sure how they found out in the first place, nor why they were finding such interest in the random girl they found. First squad eleven came, and now ten. As she told him of the nature of the tenth captain's visit, Kisuke was finding it harder and harder to tell her that he and Ayame wanted to just stop the search. He knew that they couldn't, as it was bigger than their little group and would affect them if they stopped or not. He wanted to call off the search, he really did, but with each gathered piece of information, the worry in him and everyone grew immensely. He wondered how he was going to ward off the very interested Soul Society while keeping true to his promise to Ayame to steer clear of her past.

"I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place," Kisuke told his old friend with a frustrated sigh. "She suddenly told me to stop the search, but you and I both know that finding her was chance and that her past and future is going to come back down on us. I just don't seem to get why the Soul Society is so interested in us, when they only know of the trivial background information we've requested. And that information is questionable at best. She seems to be human, yet she seems supernatural. Renji says she was a shinigami, but the rest of her story doesn't match that. Then out of nowhere Kenpachi recognizes her as someone else. I am stuck, Yoru-chan."

With a grim expression, Yoruichi silently agreed that their search was at a vacant halt. "This is becoming more than we bargained for, but what other choice do we have? Until we know who she really is and have some clarification on what she has to do with the Soul Society, we're stuck. For now, I think all we can do is talk to Kenpachi and dig a little deeper inside her information." Kisuke nodded as his eyes drifted off in the direction of Ayame. Yoruichi felt like snapping at him, but as one of his oldest friends, she felt deep worry for him. "Kisuke... I know you don't want to hear this, but you _can't_ get close to her like you've been doing. We don't know who or **what** she is yet. She could be anything, and I don't want to lose you to that. I like her a lot too, but I don't want to see you dead because you trusted too soon. Just play it safe until we _know_."

"I know her, my dear old friend," he told her firmly, "I have no doubts about her-" Urahara was stopped short at the sound of knocking by the door. He looked to Yoruichi and wordlessly agreed to continue their conversation at another time. "Come in, Hitsugaya-san."

The young boy stepped into the room with a harsh expression, though for once he wasn't followed by his bewildered looking counterpart. "Urahara Kisuke."

Kisuke smiled, he always felt that the young boy was much too serious for his age. "To what do we owe this pleasure of a visit?"

"_You_ are under investigation for suspicious activities."

"I assure you, Toushiro-kun," the blonde started, hoping to lighten the mood with some familiarity, "we know as much as your lot does. Now, why are you _really_ here?"

The captain's face dropped into a stern scowl, "I just informed you-"

"No," Urahara chided, "you told us the text-book phrase. _I_ wish to know what exactly you think you are here for. What grounds, if you may?"

For a moment, Toshiro faltered, but it was barely visible on his face. He crossed his arms, deciding on what to tell and not tell. It was a point he didn't want to share with the people he was there to investigate. "I don't know. We were sent here on little information."

"What little information," Yoruichi finally spoke. She could see that he was hesitant to say, but one glare from her finally pulled him into talking.

Toshiro cursed and ran his small hand through his mass of hair. "The Hanobake Senshi. If you know nothing about it, you haven't been cleared to know about it. Before you ask, I know nothing. I wasn't informed of my purpose being here, but I received an anonymous tip before my departure." Hitsugaya would normally never give away so much information, however, knowing that Urahara was a man of genius, there would be no way of avoiding him should an investigation entail.

"The what?" Matsumoto entered the room, only half drunk, but sober enough to comprehend the severity of the conversation.

Kisuke cursed inwardly as the words of the small captain soaked into his mind. "The Half Monster Soldier," he explained as he looked to Yoruichi as if she knew just how bad their luck had turned. "I only heard the word, when I was passing from fuku-taicho to taicho of the 12th division. My captain had been mad, I knew it and so did everyone else. The only time I've ever heard of the Hanobake Senshi was the day he lay defeated at my feet..."

_It was raining on the 12th of November, Kisuke had remembered this day grimly ever since it happened. The time had come for him to take on the role of the new captain of the 12th division in Soul Society, but first he had to defeat the previous captain, who everyone knew had lost his mind to his work. While he had the support of a great many of his desired squad and had favor among many of the captains, it was the few that believed he was too fickle, young, and inexperienced that held him back from simply _becoming_ the captain. Even Yamamoto-Genryusai Shigekuni, head captain, saw his potential, but he believed in the law and saw to it that Urahara was to defeat the captain in order to take over the role. In his eyes, if Urahara lost to the captain, then surely he was not fit to be the new captain and the old captain was sane enough to continue. He and thousands of others gathered around to witness the battle, as was called for in Genryusai's decree of captain appointment._her_ who recommended Kisuke go for the position in the first place. "The day is grim," she told him as she took a peek outside the tent, "but that doesn't mean it has to be for you." Kisuke could only nod with a distant look on his face. He didn't understand why it was necessary for him to defeat the man he had idolized -despite the madness- just for his position. He would have been content just being his fuku-taicho, but Yoruichi didn't believe in doing anything halfway. Should Kisuke actually bring him to near death, he hoped that the other captain would give up before he had to kill him, but he knew well that he was far too lost in insanity to give up. The man was brilliant, Kisuke was sure that killing such a man would be a waste of knowledge when there was such a cleaner way to change roles. Yoruichi, his long time friend and captain, knew what was best for him, and he had complete faith in her decisions, so he would fight the current captain of the 12th squad and free him of the black spiral that is madness. "I wouldn't have pushed you so much if I didn't think you were ready for this, Kisuke. I can't wait to have you as my equal, friend."_ever- _and if it had, Kisuke certainly wasn't on the receiving end of it. He could only grin a goofy smile as he came up to hug her. She, however, pushed him away with her palm on his forehead, saying, "no hugging, just don't die."_had_ to remember that he too was a genius, he just wasn't off his rocker yet. There was still time for that._you_ who will be losing this fight!" They had been fighting for nearly forty-five minutes -far too long for a duel- and the man was still insisting that he was alive and well, even at the end of Kisuke's zanpakuto. _

So there Kisuke stood on the outside of the field, shielded from the crowd, though their clamor could be heard as a dull roar inside his corner. Shihoin Yoruichi, who was captain of the 2nd squad at the time, was the only company he had aside from the random shinigami who had come in to warn them that the battle was to commence in a few minutes. Yoruichi assured him and gave him confidence, though he doubted his own abilities more than she did. It was, in fact,

Such sentimental words had never come out of that cat's mouth in probably -

That phrase had sent him into battle on numerous occasions ever since then. After she had said if for the first time, Kisuke went out to the battle field, feeling more ready than he had in a million years. The captain of the 12th squad -though of unsound mind- was a genius, and Kisuke

The crowd was big, the man was loony, but Kisuke kept a level head into the depths of battle until the very end, where he had the end of Benhime to the hollow of the captain's throat. The captain was squirming and thrashing around violently under the metal point, even though he was missing a good part of his left arm and had the entire right side of his body crushed beyond repair. He was bleeding out every where else, but he still struggled like a dying, wrathful animal. Kisuke was trying desperately to keep him at bay, hoping to prevent the captain from receiving any further damage, but the man relented.

As if he were on his feet and hardly injured, the captain shouted, "the battle has just begun, dear boy, and it is

_"Please, just say the word," Kisuke begged, "I don't want to kill you." He now had Benhime buried an inch into his throat, but the captain only paused for a moment before he jerked his head up to bring the sword even further into his neck, not far enough to completely kill. With the rain water blending in with the blood pooling around his body, the captain sputtered and wore a shocked expression on his face as if Kisuke had caused him the last pain personally. Now he looked almost pitiful, slushing out blood the way he was._tabi_ and simply laughed. Kisuke finally realized just how disturbed the former captain had been. He stood shocked and unmoving as the crowed cheered around him and recognized him as the new taicho of the 12th squad. The deceased man lay still at his feet, drenched in the brooding color of rose as the rain poured on his fallen body, mixing with the blood. His eyes were still open, and that was when Kisuke knew the soulless purple and golden eyes would haunt him for the rest of his eternity._

_Kisuke realized that the captain was trying to say something to him, but didn't completely put all of his trust in a mad man, so he kneeled down next to his paralyzed side while keeping Benhime at his throat. "Sha...Sha... T-tabi..." Among the sloshy and choked noises, a few words could be made out. "Tabi...Ko...Tabi...H- h- Hano...Hanobake...S- senshi...Tabi..." Once the captain finally got the words out, his pupils dilated to the size of pinpoints and he fell silent. No more than a millisecond later, the insane man showed his new colors by lunging forward, snapping his jaws at Urahara, attempting to bite him. Kisuke jumped back and up, all while maintaining control of his sword on the captain's throat. He appeared to have died, as he layed motionless and still, the extra effort must have killed him in the end. Kisuke felt uncomfortable as the dead eyes stared back at him, piercing his soul. He found comfort in knowing that the captain was now out of his insanity and in a better place, at peace. Out of respect, Kisuke squatted down to his side again, placing his free hand over his eyes to close them. In response, the captain suddenly shouted 'tabi' again and laughed hysterically until he finally leaned all the way through the blade, splattering blood all over Kisuke's face, and successfully killing himself. In the last two seconds of life, he had said_

_Yoruichi came up behind him silently to lead him away from the gruesome scene, and as they left, Kisuke had to wonder if Captain Hanakokari had always been a heterochromian._

"I think," Kisuke started, addressing Hitsugaya, Yoruichi, and Matsumoto, "I know where to find information about the Hanobake Senshi...and Ayame."

ooooooo

Well, things are starting to make better sense now :) So that helps


	21. Chapter 21

Hey All, it's been a while, but I'm really excited about the events coming up! By the way, this chapter get pretty smexual, so be prepared for that. This is rated M after all. Hopefully it's tasteful. It's odd, as much of a pervert I am, I feel mildly uncomfortable posting smut. ANYWAY.

**(In Japan, children often speak in the third person, as it is basic speech for them. So they would say 'Ayame wants to play' or 'Is it okay for Ayame to go outside?' It is a very complex language, so the concept of 'I' is not often understood by children. Some popstars have been heard talking like this though, to sound cute and adorable. So it's been a fad to talk like a kid. Ex: Misa from Death Note does, I think? OH! And Tobi from Naruto! On! A! Roll!)**

Oh, and I know I hate to ask this, but it'd be really nice to see a sign to know if there was someone alive and reading this...

OooOooOooOooO

After Ayame was back in bed for the night, Kisuke had waited outside her door for midnight to come. There was only a few minutes left until the meeting he had called would start, but somehow he hadn't felt prepared at all. He didn't know much about the hanobake senshi, but at least he now knew where to find information that could possibly help, as odd a place it would be. It was a stretch, but it was worth the shot. Kisuke frowned. The girl in the room behind him had asked him of one thing, not to meddle with her past anymore, yet here he was deliberating on the best way to do it. As much as he wanted it to all just go away for her, it was impossible to ignore the impending doom she presented unknowingly. She was far worth the fight, but he knew she worried about everyone getting hurt. While there was a slim chance that she wasn't involved with the hanobake senshi, the evidence was clear and he couldn't ignore her violet and honey eyes. Sometimes they were one color, and the next moment they were the other, but never both at the same time. At first he thought his memory was going, but given recent developments, he couldn't deny the coincidences anymore. As much as he'd like to think she was pure human, everything told him differently. Her father, her past, her scars, her sight, and especially her powers, all of it told him that his little friend was a big player in the plans of the Hanobake Senshi.

When his few minutes of waiting were over, he joined the others in his cave-like basement to start the meeting. Everyone in the area had come and gathered around, waiting to hear of the next battle they would have to fight. His staff was there: Yoruichi, Jinta, Tessai, and Ururu, Kurosaki's friends were there: Rukia and Renji, the 11th squad was there: Zaraki, Yachiru, Yumichika, Ikkaku, and Makizo, and the 10th squad: Toushiro and Rangiku. As they stared at him, Urahara had no choice but to begin. "The Hanobake Senshi; the half-monster soldier. We might be dealing with this sooner rather than later. I have no information on this matter, so I would like you all to tell me what _you_ know -about Ayame, about the Hanobake Senshi, and anything else strange and relevant." He turned to face Zaraki, who had Yachiru perched on his head. "You mentioned you saw her before, correct? -Please, tell us what you saw."

Zaraki nodded and began excitedly, knowing that a good battle was coming up. "I was walking around -your division-" he looked to Yoruichi, "looking for a good fight, when I saw this battered girl in white stumbling along."

"You're sure it was Ayame?"

"Yes. No doubt. I thought maybe she was falling all over the place to disguise her true power, so I asked her what she was doing. She only looked horrified at me -it was your girl, Urahara, but she went by Suzukyo Mayu. At least, that was what Hanakokari said. He came running up -crazy, he was- saying that one of his other chairs had wiped her memory and that she was simply lost. It was a well blundered lie, but I didn't question it. He was mad, no one really took to heart what he said, nor did they bother checking for legitimacy."

Yoruichi nodded at Zaraki's tale. "So, this could mean that either Ayame is really Suzukyo Mayu with a lost memory, or 'Mayu' is a made up name for a made up experiment. We'll need to figure out which one she is."

Agreeing, Kisuke scratched the top of his head. It was then that everyone noticed what was missing from him: his green and white bucket hat. He ignored all their shocked expressions and turned to Toshiro as he put his hat back on. "What do you know?"

"I told you, I heard it in a whisper on my way out. The guy was hidden in shadows. It could possibly have not been meant for me, though, I am fairly sure it was."

"Was it anyone you knew? If not, someone needs to alert the Soul Society that they may have someone mad running around."

Renji scoffed and quickly dismissed Urahara's request, "I'm sure everyone would have noticed a mad man running around if there was."

After Yoruichi gave Renji a good smack and told him to trust in Urahara, Urahara went on. "Alright. Anyone else?" When no one answered, Kisuke sighed and began to tell everyone what he knew. "First, what color eyes does Ayame have?" When everyone answered out loud either purple or honey, his suspicions were confirmed. "Hanako Ayame has been seen with two different eye colors, purple and honey; the same two colors that Hanakokari had as he started to go insane. We've also confirmed that she's been sighted more than a hundred years ago in the Soul Society, seen with Hanakokari. Her 'father' Hanako Hayate, has conducted experiments on her right here in Kurakura town, most recently. He did a ritual using a great deal of Ayame's blood. I believe he was trying to create a kaiheiki, or 'crossing gate'. With that kind of gate, it would need a host -Ayame- to grow and extract it from. This may have been a failed attempt for her father, and we can only assume in his madness he tried to force it out of her prematurely. He nearly butchered her with his zanpakuto."

Everyone listening stared gravely at Kisuke, who felt their dismay just as equally if not more. He still had no choice but to continue. "The way he conducted this experiment can only lead us to assume that he was trying to create a new world. This gate would be able to enhance the powers of hollows and give them free range of movement as they passed through. Thus, the hollow problem would grow exponentially and they could start to come into places like the Soul Society. Hanako Hayate is insane, remember, he is not on someone's evil side, he his trying to create chaos. We need to find him." Kisuke turned to Toshiro, "I think the one who told you of the Hanobake Senshi _is_ Ayame's father. By now, he has probably figured out a way to restore the gate inside of Ayame. Now he has to find her, after he left her for dead. No doubt he has figured out that she is still alive, so he's going to use you to lead him to her. We cannot let her be reunited with him. I don't know how long the process takes, but if it's almost instant, we wouldn't stand a chance. He has no man power, so I would like a third of you protecting Ayame, a third of you gathering information and the rest going to go find him.

"Those watching Ayame should know some things. She has strange powers that I personally haven't seen before. While being drawn in and attacked by a hollow, she assumed an unconscious state, in which she was able to repel anything that came at her, but only once per shield. She doesn't seem to have any offensive powers, so there's no reason to be cautious. Most of all, she has no idea about us, the Soul Society, or the situation she's in. I don't want anyone mentioning it or threatening her, as I don't want to awaken anything that could alert her father to where she is. We are working around a mad man, using information from another mad man, so we _need_ to be delicate with everything we do. She knows nothing of this, so please leave it to me alone to obtain information from her.

"Those looking for Hanako: He is a mad man and his courage is mindless, he will not hesitate to do what you wont expect, so stay open. Most likely he will panic when confronted, so when he is found, I don't want anyone to do anything until we can figure out a way to detain him. We just want to watch him until we can be sure we know how to stop him. His pride will not let him give up information, so we're more likely to gather information from observation. He's smart too, so he's probably hiding amongst the ranks. We're looking for a man who is probably doing his best to blend in. We can guess that he wont be in any of these divisions: 1st, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 12th, or 13th. He wouldn't be able to stand being so close to order, so that's why he wont be in the 1st, 6th, 7th, or 9th. Because of the work we saw on Ayame's body, he wouldn't be in the 4th either. He'd stand out too much in the 8th and 13th, because he wouldn't be able to keep calm at all -too easily spotted. Izuru Kira has a good eye, so he would have reported someone suspicious, so he couldn't be in the 3rd either. He wouldn't dare go near the 12th, because he'd easily be too tempted. That leaves the 2nd, 5th, 10th, and 11th."

Urahara began to assign, starting with his old time friend. "Yoruichi-chan, he will like the 2nd because they are mass in numbers and they all look the same, so he will be hiding amongst them if he's there. Your best bet is to get him to twitch." Kisuke turned to Rukia, "the 5th will be hard to find, as he can just play nice and go unnoticed. You're quiet as well, so he wont suspect you if you lay low and inattentive, but he will easily suspect you first if you let him. You'd likely find him sitting alone during happy times. He'll join in festivities, but wont seem to have the proper spirit." Next he turned to Zaraki so he could properly explain why he suspected the 11th. "Zaraki-san, you have a tendency to overlook anyone not worth your time, even if they're on your squad. I suggest sending out Ikkaku and Yumichika out to challenge people. Hanako does not know how to fight, but if he's hiding in your division, he wont back down from a fight. Your two should challenge him, but not anything near death, as that will make him frenzy. He will be the one who shows no real battle skills or enthusiasm. Remember, he's just humoring their challenge to keep cover." Finally, Urahara made it to Toshiro, "the only reason I suspect he could be in your division is because he knew you were being sent out to this town. Matsumoto should be looking around for some one who has recently started to partake in certain activities around you, like delivering messages to you from other captains, cleaning _your_ room, and even doing your laundry. He knows you are here, so he's probably assuming these duties if he is among your ranks."

Kisuke finally took a breath as he looked around at his tired group, but there was one more third that he had to help. "Ichigo, Zaraki, Renji, you are the best to retrieve information."

Yoruichi didn't get this one, "those three? They aren't exactly the scientific type..."

"No need," Urahara assured confidentially. "There is a lot of information that doesn't make sense in this case and we don't have any outside information. Yet."

The dismayed three finally looked up and held a look of hope -however little it was- in their eyes. "Yet?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but..." Kisuke then explained his plan, receiving looks of excitement, bewilderment, and sheer 'what the hell.'

Renji was the first to explode once the plan was finally said, he was having a hard time understanding the point of all of it, but with Yoruichi standing right next to him, who was he to argue? "Okay okay, so you want us to sneak into the Soul Society and locate the grave of a former _captain_, and _then_ proceed to dig up his **corpse** to retrieve his **sock**. Are you kidding? It's an insane and pointless plan. What do you honestly plan to do with his _sock_ of all things. Dissect it?" When Kisuke nodded and the others just avoided eyecontact, Renji blew up as if he were on a roll with his great understanding powers. " 'Dissect it' " he repeated, "what could you possibly find out from that besides what grade of cotton a mad man preferred?"

Kisuke understood Renji's reasoning, but it was too much of a coincidence that the former -crazy- scientist of the Soul Society died on the words of the very problem they were probably dealing with. After that final battle, he had thought to believe that 'tabi' was just the ramblings of a dying man, but he thought better now. Hanakokari _was_ a genius -as well as mad- so if Kisuke were to ever go insane, the first place he would hide information on what made him crazy would be what he'd be buried in. His hat. Hanakokari knew he was dying and that Kisuke _would_ be taking his place -or at least some part of him did- and he passed information on out of pride; too proud to let his work go unfinished. The time had come for Kisuke to end it. If he was right, then the information would be right in his socks, be it a chip of some sorts or at least some bit of evidence. No matter what it was, it would help them now. "I understand your concerns -all of you- but I firmly believe that we _will_ get information out of this. We don't know how big of a battle this is going to be or when it's going to come. We need to be prepared should anything happen."

The group nodded and looked away from eachother with grim looks, except for Zaraki and his fuku-taicho, who were nothing but excited for a good fight. Eventually everyone left for the night, leaving Kisuke and Yoruichi alone in silence. Both of them knew that they were probably the only ones who truly understood the danger coming. Yoruichi was about to walk past her very still and silent friend when she stopped a foot behind him. "Ayame?"

Yoruichi's thoughts were also understood by Urahara, but so far there had been no reasons to think that Ayame is involved by her own will. If she was, then she couldn't remember and therefore couldn't be held responsible. "I think she has everything to do with this, but I don't think that it's her doing it. I don't think she's had any idea of any of it."

"Kisuke-"

"I just think..." Urahara paused and looked off into the distance, hoping to find some sort of explanation to everything troubling him, "I just think she's a girl who needs saving."

yiyiyiyiy

Urahara Kisuke went to bed, but lay awake, his mind too busy to find room to allow some sleep in. Recently, he and his team had found little bits of confusing knowledge, and for some reason today was the first time they had actually compiled all the information. It was also the only day that any of it seemed to make any sense. As much as he wanted to believe that Ayame wasn't involved, he couldn't deny her involvement in it all. It was times like these that he hated fate, because he saw more how unfair life can be when dealt to the wrong people, like his new friend. He was sure that she would never involve herself in something of this nature, in fact, he found it hard to believe she would even be capable of handling it with her soft demeanor. This was probably, he figured, why she has no memory of her past. Some part of her unconscious mind was wiping her memory in self-defense, protecting her from the horrors that would destroy her had she remembered, saving only small details. She remembered colors only out of her lost memories -like eye colors and seal colors- as she related colors to pleasant things. He figured her hemophobia was based on the same principle, but opposite; her experience with blood -associated with horror- gave her the fear of it. The poor girl, though she knew nothing of it, had an evil past. There was nothing he could do about that, but he could help her toward a better future... With him.

Kisuke sat upright, sighed and stared at his dark room, the white walls looked gray with the lack of light and the open windows made little difference. Normally, he wasn't one for leaving windows open, but he was finding himself opening them frequently recently. Outside in Kurakura town, someone -someone like him- was sleeping next to his spouse without any worries more serious than bills to pay and if the contractors would be done in time for the in-laws' visit. That someone wasn't worried about how many allies around him would die if he made the wrong judgment call, or terrified of losing a fight against someone who could dramatically shift the balance of good and evil should he fail, or scared to death of losing the one person who had become so close to him.

Kisuke's thoughts of Ayame only stopped when she herself was present at his doorway, standing in an almost lewd posture. At first, he only saw her leaning against the door way innocently as he was only looking at her disheveled appearance -with her tank top falling carelessly over her shoulders and her tiny pj shorts low on her hips- but then he saw that she was anything but sleepy. He said her name, but it went unanswered. She came forward towards him in a slow and controlled pace, hips swaying as if she actually knew the power they had on a man. It was dark and the open window wasn't of much help, so her face was hidden in shadow. Thinking she was just scared from a nightmare or simply couldn't sleep, Kisuke beckoned her over to join him on the bed with intentions of comforting her. When she made it to the end of his bed, she crawled on her hands and knees up to him.

She didn't bother going to either side of him, instead, her intentions were heading right toward him. Stopping over his knees, she lifted her face to reveal her face which held a look of sexy determination with her eyes smoldering on him. He said her name again, but a bit more huskily; again receiving no answer. Instead, she crawled up until she was straddling him and leaned her head toward him as if she were going to kiss him. Naturally he moved toward her to meet her halfway, but at the last second she turned her face away and moved her lips toward his ear. "Kisuke," her voice whispered, sending a tingle down his spine and a searing heat in his cheeks. "_Kisuke... You have something Ayame wants..._" **

Kisuke found it odd that she spoke like a child, but something else besides his brain was thinking. The most he could say with her breathing hotly in his ear and on his neck was weak, "what? W-what?" He stuttered as she placed a searing kiss right below his ear and started to trail down his neck.

When she reached the hollow of his throat, her left hand came up to push his chin up and to the side so she could have better access as she began to kiss up his throat. Once she reached his chin, she worked her way across his jaw line until she made it to his ear again, where she said in a sultry voice. "_Kisuke... Will you let Ayame have it?_" Slowly, but without hesitation, her hands ran up the front of his chest to cradle his head between her hands. In turn, this made his hands move up to hold her at her sides, right at the ribs. Moving to kiss him on the lips, she once again stopped short, letting her sweet breath tickle his lips. "_...What she most desperately wants._"

At last, Kisuke couldn't take it anymore; he moved his head forward in attempt to capture her lips, but she turned away, so he only caught her cheek. She seemed unfazed and carried on her seductive ways by pulling his top apart to reveal his chest, to which she stroked her hands down. Kisuke let out a sharp gasp as she ground her hips down on his already growing arousal. "Ay-"

Ayame did it again, but with a little more pressure. The first time was not hesitation, but a tease, the second was a signal that she meant business. So was the third and fourth. She leaned forward again to attack his neck, biting his skin a bit rougher than before. He liked it. Growling deeply in his throat, he tried to go for her neck since she layed it so willingly in front of him, but Ayame was in control on this one. The second his lips brushed over her neck, she pushed herself away and stared at him, treating her stopping as punishment. She ground her hips on him again, eliciting a deep groan from him, to which she smiled wickedly. Her hands traveled down his chest, past his hips, and under his pants as she lifted off his hips. Nimble fingers met the heated, growing organ, sending a chill up Kisuke's spine. Her phalanges curled around him, stroking and squeezing as if she were experienced. Finally she kissed him, biting at his bottom lip until he opened up. Not that he hesitated. Once their tongues started playing roughly, his attempt to gain dominance failed quickly when she forced his head back to give her more room to stroke him at a better angle.

Kisuke was losing his control. Somehow he got enough control to lift his hands to pull her tank top off from the bottom up, even though doing so separated their lips for even the slightest time. She didn't have a bra on underneath, for which he was grateful as he reached up and fondled at her chest. This ignited an even hotter fire in her. With a loud moan, she squeezed and stroked until he was nearly on the brink of bursting. Colors swirled behind his lidded eyes, he was coming close to his finale. Something needed to happen. His body took control over his mind and easily overpowered Ayame's futile attempts to keep control by reversing the roles. He flipped them over, staying in between her legs. He originally had no intentions of stopping, however, the instant the back of her head hit the mattress her eyes closed and her body stopped completely.

Kisuke panicked, checking all of her vitals. She was alive, but it was like she had passed out completely. He would have to investigate in the morning, when she was awake, but there was one thing he had to check before he fell asleep. With his thumbs, he gently lifted up her eye lids. Part of him was horrified, but part of him half expected what he saw.

Ayame's eyes were violet and honey colored, but they were fading set into the purple color he knew of. He was going to have to wake up Yoruichi. Right after he dealt with a personal problem.


End file.
